The King of Fighters 2000: The DHS team
by Burnout
Summary: The setting: The king of fighters tournament, 2000 A.D. Now imagine a new team. A team from the almost-non present Singapore. My first ever fic, so please R&R. ***NOTES***It's finished. Thank you all for being so supportive (bows).
1. It begins

**THE KING OF FIGHTERS '00**

**THE DHS TEAM: CHAPTER 1**

            It was a perfect day.

            The sun shone brightly in the sky. Birds sang a tune of joy and love. 

            And far, far beneath this peace, a furious argument was going on, as a long line of people waited for entry, in the King of Fighters '00 (Er…Millennium Fight) Tournament.

            It was not looking to be Chizuru's day.

First came the normal headaches of running a King of Fighters tournament. And for all she knew, her secretary was off lounging somewhere with that girlfriend of his.  He was so dead... provided Chizuru herself survived this night.

"Look, lady.  The rules are clear.  In my tournament, there are no one-person teams.  We aren't even letting Iori or Rugal do that this year," she explained to a stubborn entrant for what seemed like the fifth time.

"And why is that?" Asked the new contestant, dressed in a red dress that revealed WAY too much.

            "Because we don't want to be liable of the beating a three-on-one match can bring. Also, too many people in the old King of Fighters tournaments thought they could showboat and enter alone, and got their butts kicked in the process. I'm not having it this time.  So kindly stop asking me, would you?" she growled.

Apparently *finally* getting the point, the new contestant walked off in a huff, muttering, "I can't *believe* I flew *ten thousand miles* for this shit..."

"Profanity won't get you anywhere either!" Chizuru yelled after her. "Just come back when you have people willing to fight with you.  Next!"

            She let out a sigh, as the next one walked up.

            He was a bespectacled young man, sixteen or so. A pair of fingerless gloves covered his hands, while a blue jacket was draped over a standard T-shirt with the words "Dunman High" written over it.

            More meat for slaughter, then, Chizuru thought sardonically.

            "Name?"

            "Chan. But you can call me Burnout."

            "Good grief. Where's your team?"

            The boy/man waved, and three other kids, around his age, stepped out from behind him. They all had a certain rigid **_sameness about them, even though their clothing and features were different._**

            "Okay." Chizuru took out a spare pen.

            "Names?"

            Chan pointed at the first one, a wiry, agile-looking kid with a large hairdo and slight buck teeth. "Ryan a.k.a Quicksilver. He's a Physical Adept, whatever that means."

            " Okayyy…" 

            The next one was the tallest, who wore an armored visor of some type. A pair of nasty-looking blades dangled from his arms."Alistair Andrew Gillus, a.k.a Andro. Or AudronGenX."

            "Chan, I TOLD you not to call me 'Gillus'. It's 'Gill', not Gillus."

            "Shut up."

            The pen darted over the paper once more. 

            "And the last member of our team is…"

            There was a slight commotion, and all turned around, as the last boy in the group began doing unpleasant psychic things to an unfortunate pickpocket, much to the amusement of others. 

            "Uh…We call him Ogion. He has a self-image..."

            "DIEEEEEEEEE!!!!!"

            "…_And an anger management problem. Don't worry, he's on medication."_

                 Chizuru rubbed her temples, and reached for the nearby bottle of aspirin. _Empty so soon? Damn. _

            "Alright. You boys seemed to have all the necessary criteria. The first match is tomorrow, same place. What's your team called again?"

            "The DHS team. It stands for 'Dunman High School.' We're from Singapore, so…"

            "Yare yare…"

            The group slapped brief high-fives.

            "We did it!"

            "We're in! WOO HOO!!!"

            "Yeah! Styling!"

            "Shut up, dumbass."

            The boys soon vanished into the distance, carried along by their argument.

            The next person in line stepped forward.

            "ME IS B.B. BEAR!!!"

            "…"

            It was going to be a _long day. Chizuru's hands twitched, as she contemplated getting them around her assistant's throat._

*************************

            That night…

            The DHS team lay sprawled in their hotel room, worn out after a hard day of partying.

            The fact that the battle was tomorrow didn't really concern them. Hey, they were 

merely teenagers after all, still going through the raging hormonal stage of puberty. Chan sighed. Yeah, they were his best friends, but somehow, he just didn't have much hope of victory. 

            Still…

            They DID have some powers, after the science accident involving rubber bands, a visiting demolition expert, and a highly volatile mixture of…

            His mind strayed away from that line of thought.

            Well, tomorrow would decide everything. Win or lose, a new legend would be writt…

            "Shut up, Chan. Did you know you talk in your sleep?"

            "…Sorry."

**************************

            The next day…

            "Right, you lugs. Let's make this a quick and painless as possible. Team name?"

            "The DHS team, from…"

            "Okay. Powers?"

            Ryan raised a hand. 

            "Uh…I can beat the crap out of…"

            "Right. Next?"

            Andro spoke up.

            "I'm a marksman, and know some…"

            "Last two!"

             Bryan looked up.

            "I can do unpleasant psychic things to anyone who annoys me."

            The rude tournament exc paused, taken aback by this development.

            "I see. And…"

            "Chan."

            "Chan, what can you do?"

            "Well, I know how to channel elements…"

            "No."

            "What?"

            "Elemental powers are copyrighted by certain fighters."

            The man began to tick them off on his fingers.

            "Electricity: Benimaru, that wimp. Earth: Bogard. Air: The now-deceased 'Immortal Geese Howard.' And don't even THINK of using fire, no thanks to three guys who have already ripped it off. So, barring that, what can you DO?"

            "Well, I have a guardian 'Stand' called 'World Eater Remix'…"        

            "Okay. Down the ramp and into the ring. And may the Almighty have pity upon your souls."

            "Who's our first opponent?"

            The man smiled, eyes taking a decidedly evil glint. 

            "The Ikari Warriors."

            "Who?"

            "You'll find out soon. Verrrryyy soon."

(Well, that's the end of chapter 1. This is my first fic, so please read and review. I'll be posting character profiles/moves later. "Yare yare" is from Jojo's Bizzare Adventure, as is Chan's original Stand, World-Eater. If anyone knows where good KOF fics are, please tell me. Also, Bryan's 'Medication' is a nod to 'Akira'. And yes, I AM a DHS student.) 


	2. Who are the Ikari Warriors, again?

**Chapter 2: Who are the Ikari Warriors, Again?**

****

            Waiting was the hardest part.

            In the small ready room, the Singapore Team paced back and forth, waiting for their turn.

            The fight was supposed to begin immediately, but due to some timing error, the team was early for the scheduled fight.

            Of course, that meant that they had to sit here, and wait for someone to call them out.

            Andro was busy sharpening his arm-blades, honing them to a razor edge. He did not hum a tune.

            Somehow, that was extremely disturbing.

            Ryan was busy performing several warming-up katas, going through the smooth, flowing motions at an idle pace. 

            Bryan flipped a coin again and again, without even using his hands.

            Chan paced back and forth, adjusting his glasses repeatedly.

            This went on for quite some time, as the seconds dragged into minutes, and the minutes into hours. Far overhead, the sun set, sinking down towards the west.

            Worse, it began to rain.

            Not a light drizzle, but a driving, chilling downpour that felt like it was flaying the skin of your bones.

            The KOF officials, anxious not to lose any cash, hastily erected a temporary shelter for the spectators.

            So, you can imagine how Ryan, the first fighter, felt when he was led out into the downpour, to face off against someone he didn't even know.

            To put it simply, it sucked.            

            With the rain drenching him, Ryan performed several moving _katas, to ready himself for the fight to come._

            From the other side of the shelter emerged his opponent, an ominous robed figure.

            It walked to a distance of several feet from him, then promptly flung of the cloak.

            Ryan's eyes widened. 

            It was a blue-haired girl, and a rather pretty one at that. For all his cockiness, Ryan simply couldn't see any WAY of her defeating him, despite the military-style outfit she wore.

            Still, what the hell. It was a fight, and one he had to win.

            Ryan slammed a fist into his palm. 

            "Let's get it on!"

            The girl blinked at him, and said something like "Ninmu suikou shimasu", before giving him a brief bow.

            Somewhere in the background, the loudspeaker squawked to life.

            "ROUND ONE: RYAN VERSUS LEONA HEIDERN! FIGHT!"

            And to the thunderous cheers of the audience, the battle commenced.

*************************

            It was not going well.

            The rest of the DHS Team could see that clearly from the stands. Ryan was having the living crap beaten out of him, under a volley of green-glowing bladed orbs, earring bombs, and the occasional blue slash. The fact that this was being recorded on camera didn't make it any better.

            If only the damn speaker would shut up.

            "**The new fighter is being mercilessly pummeled! Is this the end for the DHS Team? A poor showing so…"**

            Andro slumped.

            "Chan, you _should have let me be the first fighter, you know."_

            "Hey, how was I to know? Ryan seemed so damned…"

            All winced as a massive spinning kick from Leona creamed Ryan, knocking him to the ground.

            **"He's down! The newcomer Ryan has been struck down by the might of the Ikari Warriors!"**

            "…Confident."

            Andro stood up. "I can't take this!"

            He leapt out into the pouring rain, arm-blades unsheathing as he did.

            Chan started, as if to stop him, then slapped his head with his hand.

**            "Wait! One of his teammates has leapt from the stands! Do they intend a Striker Action?"**

"That idiot!"

He was really beginning to regret this.

Turning, he glared at Ogion, who had been watching the entire exchange. 

"What?" 

The psychic turned to face the Stand-wielder, who sighed and sat back down.

"Nothing."

**************************  
  


            This was not Ryan's day.

            The girl was beating him to a bloody pulp.

            Worse, she was LAUGHING! He could deal with the pain, but no one, NO ONE laughed at him.

            The humiliation made his cheeks burn, even as he raised his hands to block for what seemed like the hundredth time.

            He never even saw the spinning kick.

            Ryan went down in a heap, a constellation exploding in his head.

            "MOTHERFUCK*R!!!!!" 

            Just then, Andro leapt from the stands, blades flashing.

            He got in a good, solid hit, slashing open a wound in Leona's arm, moments before she picked him up, and bodily flung him back.

            That was all the time Ryan needed. Drenched in the pouring rain, he climbed to his feet, hands by his sides.

            The loudspeaker boomed out a message. **"...And he's standing! The good usage of a Striker has given the fighter a chance to get back to his feet!"**

            Ryan didn't hear it.

            The young fighter drew a fist back, vision blurring, heart pounding in his ears. Dimly, he heard Leona laughing, saying "Run away," again and again and again.

            Leona knew she was going to win. So did Ryan. 

            But when she came in to deal the final, deadly blows, Ryan struck back at the laughing girl with all his might.

            His fist and feet moved in a blur of motion, striking again and again, even as Leona pummeled him with her own attacks.

            Ryan struck so hard that he shattered her nose, and ripped one of her earrings off. He struck at her until she didn't laugh any more.

            Leona's answer was a vulgarity, and a Strike Arch that smashed Ryan to the ground yet again.

            The young man, driven past all reason, got back up, not even slowing in his assault. All the audience could see was ghostly after-images, as the two combatants smashed each other into oblivion. Very soon, blood began to spurt, mixing with the pounding rain.

            The audience was completely silent, for once, at least. Money was quickly changing hands, as whispered bets were made on the outcome.

            The rest of the Ikari Warriors suddenly didn't look so confident.

            Finally, Leona made a mistake. She flipped towards Ryan, grabbing at his hair. With a roar, Ryan spun, and performed a final, massive kick. 

            Leona was blasted back, and slammed away from her opponent. 

            Ryan, breathing heavily, staggered like a drunken man, clothes tattered and torn, and just barely on his feet.

            Leona cupped her hands to her mouth, and shouted, "Do you surrender?"

            The schoolboy looked up. "Go **** yourself."

            The girl simply shrugged. "Your loss." She pointed at Ryan. Ralf leapt from the stands, lunging forward in a massive punch….

            "ANDRO!!!"

            Andro likewise leapt from his seat, and tackled Ralf, sending both tumbling away from the combat. Now it was just Leona and Ryan.

            Chan started yelling at Ryan from his seat.

            "The hell are you waiting for, dumbasss? Use your damn _projectile!!!"_

            Clark, hearing the exchange, scratched his head. "The kid has a projectile?"

            "WATER SLASH!!"

            Ryan slashed out a blade of water in the air, too far away from Leona to reach her.

            "That's your projectile? You suck…"

            "WAVE CANNON!!"

            Ryan booted the blade towards Leona, in a way that caused K', watching this live, to shout "Ripoff!!!" at the television.

            Leona recovered from her surprise, and promptly blocked. 

            The blast was followed by another. And another. And yet another.

            Meanwhile….

            **"As you can see, Leona seems to have been pinned under a volley of cheap projectiles from Ryan. However, she's currently at full power, and injured enough to perform a SDM."**

**            Indeed, that was exactly what she went for.**

            Leona leapt into the air, and came down, slashing away, leaving a red trail of light as she went.

            "V SLASHER!!!"

            **"However, Ryan is likewise at maximum power. This could get interesting."**

            It did.

            Ryan likewise leapt, giving out the sudden flash of an incoming super.

            **"Storm of Venegance****!!!"**

            The sky clouded over, and a freak hurricane began to blow.

            Ralf, who had long since disengaged from Andro, watched the coming storm with interest.

            "That's strange. I thought only Geese/Rock Howard knew weather-control techniques. Then how…"

            A single bolt of lightning cracked down, so bright that it eclipsed the sun.

            When the light faded, there was an ominous cloud of smoke.

            **"Who has triumphed? Ryan, do you still live? Leona, the world wants to know!"**

**            Silence. The breathless crowd watched, as the smoke began to clear. **

            **"I think I see movement!"**

**            Indeed, a figure was walking out from the fog.**

            It was Ryan. His clothes were scorched, his gloves and glasses had been burnt off, but it was definitely him. Leona lay on the floor behind him, small arcs of electricity still crackling around her body. Obviously, she had taken the brunt of the blast.

            With a roar, a massive cheer came up from the crowd. Grudgingly, even the Ikari Warriors joined in.

            Ryan looked up, at his cheering classmates, and then at the joyful crowd. 

            **"What a spectacular upset!"**

            "Bugger it," Ryan mumbled, then crashed to the floor, unconscious. No one else seemed to notice, or care.

**************************

            "Right. As Ryan is unconscious, I'm the next fighter up."

            Chan tightened his gloves, and his spectacle band. 

            "Chan, I'm supposed to fight next."

            "Sorry, Andro. Charging in to help Ryan like that has listed you as our 'Striker'. That means, you basically only can jump in to help, NOT engage in combat yourself."

            "That's screwed up."

            "I know. Have you seen who I'm up against?" He shuddered.

            "Yeah. That guy looks like Arh-nuld, and probably is about as strong. I say that you'd better stay away."

            "Gotcha."

**************************

            Clark watched his opponent from the other end of the ring, curious. 

            The boy, Chan, was definitely one of the oldest of his teammates. However, he didn't seem to have the faintest idea how to fight.

            Instead of warming up, he just stood there, hands at his sides, muttering something…Prayers?

            Well, it didn't matter, thought the mercenary. He would go easy on the kid, let him walk away from the fight with his legs intact. 

            He wouldn't miss his arms much. Probably.

            Clark tensed, ready to charge the moment the start bell rang…

            There was a sudden, massive impact to his face, and he went down.

            What had…

            The boy, Chan, now had a faint, vaguely humanoid outline behind him. THAT had hit him.

            "Okay," Clark thought. "He's gonna suffer for that."

            With a speed almost impossible for such a big man, Clark lunged.

********************

            "Crap. I think he's really pissed."

            Chan had nailed Clark with a punch from World-eater, but it had been like stinging a MBT. 

            Right now, Clark was charging him, fists swinging.

            Chan did the only thing he could. He turned, and ran away.

********************

            The kid was running away, and that surprised Clark.

            He hadn't tried to block or anything, he just flat-out ran. Judging from the number of boos from the audience, they didn't like that either.

            At last, the boy turned, and aimed a finger in Clark's direction.

            Now what?

            "WORLD-EATER: BITE!!!" Caught him by surprise, as well as the massive spectral maw that snapped at him.

            So this boy had a companion of some kind. Well, things were getting more interesting.

********************

            Right now, Chan was beginning to panic.

            He had hit Clark with EVERYTHING: The Cannon, World-Eater bites, the purple energy ray that made him look like tinky-winky, even the Stand's damn sword.

            And still he kept on coming. True, he hadn't even laid a finger on Chan yet, but Chan had a nasty suspicion that Clark would take him apart like a creampuff.

            So, the nasty game of hide and seek went on. Chan would run like hell, then occasionally stop, and nail Clark with a projectile, or a long-range World-Eater attack. Clark, in turn, would dodge, block, or most disconcertingly of all, take the hit and keep on coming.

            At last, Chan could run no more. Panting, he slowed, took a fighting stance, and prepared for the on coming assault.

            It was worse than he could imagine.

            Clark tackled Chan, almost breaking both his arms in the process. Even worse, he grabbed Chan in a rolling cradle, sending both tumbling the floor in a flurry of blows.

            Somehow, Chan managed to get off a single, solid blow, smashing Clark's sunglasses into his face.

            Momentarily blinded, Clark staggered back, shaking off the splinters off broken glass.

            Wincing, Chan clumsily rolled away. If not for a Stand-user's resistance to injury, he probably would have been crippled. Or worse.

            But, all things considered, it hadn't been so bad. Though yes, it still hurt.

            Chan realized his Stand Gauge was running low. Pretty soon, he would have to take on Clark all by himself. Well, if he was going to go down, might as well go down with a… 

            "BIG BANG!!!"

            Both World-Eater and Chan lunged forward, scoring a massive twin punch on Clark. Then, the entire world seemed to freeze up, like a glitchy Playstation effect.

            "TANDEM ATTACK!!!"

            Suddenly, time resumed its normal course, and Chan's Stand rushed forward, in a flurry of slashing, biting, bashing attacks. Clark blocked most of them, but the occasional hit did get through, tearing his clothes and the skin of his arms.

            At the same time, Chan drew his only weapon, a small, rune-engraved pistol.

            "MAGE CANNON!"

            He blasted away with six shots, and then paused to reload. 

            His mistake.

            Ralf leapt from the bench, and promptly nailed him with a Galactica Phantom, 

sending him sprawling.

            If this was what the Striker attack felt like, he didn't want to know the real thing.

            Meanwhile, Clark had shaken off the last effects of the Stand Crash. He was injured, but would NOT let this kid have the satisfaction of watching it. Even know, the boy was struggling to reload the small handgun he held, hands shaking from the strain. Grinning at the thought of yet another victory, Clark stepped forward…

            …To be confronted by a slashing, hacking whirlwind of blades, cutting lines across his face and body. 

            With a growl, he flung Andro away, sending him crashing into the wall. Then, he took yet another step, and prepared to deal a Stomping, which would definitely break the little bastard's back…

            The aforementioned little bastard looked up at Clark, and smiled. Clark barely had time to wonder what was so funny, when Chan shot him. Six times.

*****************

            The aftermath…

            "Okay, Chan. You're next up against that girl with the whip."

            The boy shuddered. "Disturbing."

            Indeed, it was. 

            The moment the battle began, Whip promptly lashed Chan across the face, leaving a throbbing red cut. 

            With a disconcerting smile, she wiped off the blood, and drew a Desert Eagle.

            Chan began to feel very, very afraid.

*****************

            Whip kept up her slow, steady advance, occasionally lashing at the young man with her weapon. He was badly injured, and near defeat, she could tell.

            Occasionally, Chan would fire back with that overly powerful handgun of his, with neat, tidy bursts of energy.

            Even worse, sometimes the irritating outline above him would swing it's sword, keeping her at bay.

            But this couldn't go on much longer. Something had to give.

            Against all reasonable chances, Chan won. 

            Just barely.

 Whip got overconfident, and swung up into the air once more, pulling herself up. Alas, World-Eater grabbed hold of her. 

A twin bite-and-handgun combo knocked the lights out.

***************** 

            "We WON? I can't believe this!"

            "Yeah, neither can I."

            "Who's next up?"

            "No one. We get to advance to the battle next week, 'gainst the so-called "Psycho Soldiers'. They're all psychics, or so I heard."

            "Hmm…They sound as unstable as Ogion."

            "Well, that's a problem for next week. For now…"

            "We party."

*****************

             Somewhere else, a man sat in darkness, staring ahead into space.

            On a massive screen ahead of him, he watched, as the Ikari Warriors staggered away from the tournament, beaten and battered.

            He sighed.

            Another tournament lost.

            For the sixth year.

            In a row.

            When he turned the camera, to see who had beaten them, he blurted out an incredulous profanity.

            Kids. KIDS had won against his mercenaries? He couldn't believe this.

            Commander Heidern's hand curled, in preparation for dealing his soul-stealer move. This had to be NESTS fault somewhere. 

            They would pay.

            By god, they would pay.

            But first…

            The supreme commander of the Ikari Warriors, the fearless soldiers of fortune, took out a small, egg-shaped device from his pocket. Mysterious beeping noises came from it.

            Then, a horrible roar of rage and pain resounded through the air.

            "AAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! MY TAMAGOTCHI DIED!!!!!!!!!"

            It soon degenerated in pitiful, psychopathic sobbing.

(Whew! Chapter 2, the longest one so far finished! Once again, please R&R. No one flame me 'bout the final battle with Whip, as I was getting more than slightly tired.)


	3. The mandatory background chapter

**Chapter 3: Athena and friends…WTH?**

            One week flew by.

            During that short time, life, as always, continued for the boys.

            They called their parents. They wandered around Japan, taking in the sights and sounds.

            Then, on the fourth day, two encounters happened. One would affect their immediate future. The other…Well, let's say the other would get them into a load of trouble.

            The first encounter…

*****************************

            Outside a bakery store, Ryan hummed happily to himself, clutching a bag of groceries. Next to him, Andro provided a surly counterpoint, weighed down by an even larger load.

            "Ryan, I think you should more of the goods."

            The fighter snorted.

            "Andro, you agreed to carry the damn portion you were gonna eat! No one asked you to load yourself down with this canned crap."

            "Hey! These sausages are great! I tried a couple, and just couldn't stop…"

            "You're hopeless."

            "It's my money."

            "Technically, it belongs to all of us, due to bets we placed on ourselves."

            "Yeah, but it's MY share!"

            Things were starting to get ugly, when a small kid cannoned into Ryan's feet. With a curse, the fighter went down, goods tumbling all around him. 

            Andro began to laugh…Until the same thing happened to him, as a young man in a blue coat crashed into him.

            For a moment, all was confusion, as Andro and Ryan tried to hold on to their goods, against the very force of gravity. They failed utterly, sending cans bouncing everywhere.

            With a snarl, Ryan got up, and prepared to deal a Wave Cannon to the little kid, consequences be damned. Next to him, Andro was already on his feet, hands at his sides. This was the youth's most dangerous pose. It meant that he could barely restrain himself from grabbing the blades.

            "Who the hell are you?" Ryan snapped, blue light beginning to glow in his eyes. 

            The kid who had knocked him down simply blinked at him, adjusting his bright orange cap.

            "Eeek! Kensou, help!"

            The one called Kensou was in a similar dilemma, engaged in a stare down with Andro. You could almost see the tension between them.

            If it could have, a tumbleweed would have rolled past, just to make a point.

            "So you're Kensou," Andro said, in a voice that promised death.

            "I always like to know the name of my victims."

            For his own part, Kensou stared straight back. 

            "I don't need to know yours, lowlife scum."

            Ryan sighed, and pushed between the two. "Calm down, you two. That ain't civil, Andro. Please put the blades away."

            Grudgingly, Andro did as he was told.

            Meanwhile, the little kid stretched out a hand, waiting for someone to shake it. "My name is Bao. It's nice to meet you."

            Realizing that no one was paying attention to him, he looked away, and stormed off to sulk. No one noticed.

            "BAO! KENSOU!! Where are those two…"

           At that moment, a cute, short-haired girl ran over, waving her arms in their approximate direction.

            Even though Ryan had never seen her before, he recognized her face.

            "Athena Asamiya!!!'

            The girl spun, staring at Ryan. 

            "Yes, that's me! Have you ever been to my concerts?"

            "Uh…Yes."

            "Oh, so you're one of my friends!"

            Actually, her music was the 'in' thing in Singapore. Almost every girl in Ryan's class had an album of her music. Every boy, on the other hand…

            Ryan was jerked out his musings by a sharp, painful kick, and a light cough from Andro. 

            "THESE are the Psycho Soldiers, dumbass," 

Andro hissed, just barely audible. "We're fighting against them. NEXT WEEK."

"Shut up," Ryan hissed back.

He suddenly realized the amount of trouble he was in. Somehow, his mind was taking a new turn entirely.

_"She's cute, you know," It whispered, sliding at the edge of his consciousness. __"Isn't she your type?"_

_"F*ck off."__ Ryan politely admonished, sliding away from that train of thought. It was getting a bit disturbing. Besides, he had a more important situation at hand._

"I'm sorry, but we're kind of busy here. ("Very," Andro deadpanned.) We'll just get our groceries, and go…"

"Oh, don't worry, we'll help you."

            "Athena-sama…" Kensou protested, shooting a glare at Andro.

            "Don't be rude. Of course we'll help these nice people with their stuff." 

            The boys did a record job of packing, hurriedly shoveling everything back into bags in the rush to get away.

            "Thank you very much and…"The rest of the words were lost in their flight from the area. 

            "Bye!" Athena waved to the boys, as they ran off. Then, she turned to Kensou. "Did you catch their names?"

            Kensou shrugged. "Not really. I don't remember. Not that I wanted to, anyway."

            "Baka!"

            ***Thud***

            "Ouch."

            "Where's Bao?"

            "Off sulking somewhere."

*******************

            The second encounter…

            Chan leaned against a pillar, tapping his foot on the ground.

            "Where are Andro and Ryan? They were supposed to be here an hour ago!"

            He was getting seriously irritated. Those two were…He couldn't think of any word to say. 

            Just to make matters worse, it began to rain. 

            Cursing the two and the world in general, he headed for the nearest shelter, quickly ducking underneath the ricky roof. For a moment, he seriously envied Ogion, who was probably nice and warm in the damn hotel…

            Suddenly, he heard a shrill scream, and a feminine cry for help. 

            "Aww…Hell," Chan mumbled, running off in that direction. Why did these things happen to him? Then, he turned the corner into an alleyway, and was suddenly very grateful he had come to help.

Several forms were crouched over that of a young girl's, who was presumably the victim. Even from his position, the young man could instantly understand their intentions. The very sight made Chan's blood boil.

            Of course, that was no reason to do what he did next. What he did was completely inexcusable. 

            So, why did Chan call out World-Eater, and combo the nearest thug to oblivion? Also, why did he pull out his handgun, and give another one five Mage Cannon shots? And why oh why did he draw all his power back into himself, and fling a massive ray of energy, that was probably seen from outer space?

            He didn't know.

            All Chan knew was that, when the dust settled, and the momentarily-evaporated rain began pouring down once more, was that it felt good.

            And then…

            ***Click***

            Chan turned around, to see the last of the lowlife scum holding a gun to the girl's head. 

            "Don't…Don't move, weirdo! Drop that gun you have!"

            Chan sighed. He flipped his handgun into his hand…And pointed it straight at the thug.

            "I got a better idea. YOU drop the gun, and YOU'LL walk out of here on your own power."

            "What makes you think I won't kill her?"

            "What makes you think I won't kill you?"

            But still, despite all his bravado, Chan was beginning to feel nervous. Unless the man _did drop the weapon, the chances of the girl's survival were unlikely._

            The girl, for her own part, was near panic. Her blue hair rippled as she tried to struggle free. Idly, Chan wondered just why so many people in Japan had blue hair, and where she was from. The red bodysuit she wore looked expensive, though definitely not good shelter against the rain.

            The man, completely ignorant of the situation, shoved the barrel of his gun against the girl's head. His finger tightened on the trigger-

            -and his eyes lolled back into his head. The man slid to the floor in a boneless heap, gushing blood from nose and eyes. He evidently had a massive cerebral hemorrhage, killing him.

            Chan couldn't do that. He was definitely going to have a talk with Ogion about this…Later.

            He stretched out an arm, and helped the girl to her feet.

            "Well…uh…Hi." 

            "Who are you?" 

            "I should be asking that question. My name's Chan. I'm…visiting Japan. And you're…"

            "Kula." Kula tentatively smiled. "I'm…I'm looking for my friends. Have you seen them?" She shivered in the cold rain, and wrapped her arms around herself.

            "Thank you for your help...I'm really grateful."

            Chan began to feel the rush of blood to his head. 

Somewhere else, Ogion fell to the floor, sustaining a serious nosebleed.

Chan spun the weapon, and slid it back into his holster, attempting to play it cool. "What do they look like?" 

"Oh, two other girls. One has black hair, and her name's Diane. She has a rather funny voice. The other one's called Foxy. She's blond, and carries a long needle with her. Both of them are always nice to me."

"Sorry. I haven't seen them…But I'm sure they'll turn up."

Kula nodded…then sneezed.

"Is something wrong?"

"Well…It's a bit damp."

Chan slipped off his jacket, and draped it over Kula, ignoring her protests.

"Here, take this. No, no, where I live, it's sometimes worse than this. Relax."

Once more, Kula let off a devastating smile.

"Thank you…again."

*******************

Ogion, lying on the floor of the hotel room, began crawling towards the medicine cabinet. 

"Must…get…insulin…Damn psychic link…"

*******************

"KULLLAAAAA!!!!!!!"

A voice rang out in the distance.

Two women ran to the shelter. The first, presumably Diana, hugged Kula, and promptly began fussing over her. 

"Kula! You shouldn't be wandering around in this weather…You could catch a cold…What are you doing here, anyway?"

The other woman subtly shifted in position, placing herself between Kula and Chan. "Well now, and who are you?"

Chan raised both hands in the universal symbol of peace.

"Whoah, my name's Chan. I was just passing by when…"

"I was in trouble, and he helped me," Kula chirped, voice muffled by Diana.

"He also gave me this jacket."

Instantly, the mood of the area changed.

            Foxy shook Chan's hand. 

            "So, you helped our little sister. We're really grateful."

            When she let go, Chan winced, trying to work some life back into the appendage. Christ, but her grip was strong.

            Diana took a look at Chan.

            "Wait! You're one of the fighters in the DHS team!"

A chill ran through Chan, as well as the sudden urge to escape.

_How does she know?_

"Yes…Well, it's not really important…"

From the corner of his eye, he saw Foxy shift behind him, hand resting on the nasty rapier at her side…

"CHHANNN!!!"

Ryan and Andro had finally arrived. Thanking God for their timely arrival, Chan said, "My teammates are here. If you would excuse me?"

He promptly snuck back off into the rain, quickly vanishing from sight.

*******************

"Kula. Did you manage to get the tracker on him?"

Kula nodded.

"But why did you want me to do that? He seemed like such a nice man!"

"I know. But he might be K'. Did he exhibit any sign of flame powers when running to your rescue?"

"No. But there was _something. Some massive thing that helped him…"_

"Sounds like Maxima."

"But it was just barely visible…"

Diana decided to let the matter drop.

"Okay, little sister. We'll take your word for it. Still, we'll monitor them. We have to be careful."

*******************

            "Ryan! Andro! Thank god you're here!"

            Ryan patted Chan on the back. 

            "Sorry we're late. We had some…trouble."

            Andro snorted. "Hmmph."

            "By the way, what happened to your jacket?"

            Chan groaned. There was no avoiding it. He told them everything, from beginning to the end, as they walked back to the hotel. 

            By the time they reached the doorstep…

"You're a lucky guy, Chan! ***Nudge, nudge*** Is she pretty?"

"Shut up, pervert."

"When's the wedding?"

"Ryan…"

"You gave here your coat? Aww…That's so _sweet."_

"You two…"

Chan drew the handgun, and, very calmly, loaded it.

The comments stopped very soon.

*********************

Somewhere else, in an internet café, K' looked up from the computer,

"Funny…I felt that someone's talking 'bout me."

            He turned his attention back to the screen.

            "Oh, well. Back to Neopets."

            A pause.

            "Die, Clown, DIE!"

(Well, this chapter is mainly a background one, giving the story SOME elements of a plot. Also, let's just call thi the "Mandatory WAFF Chapter". Hey, who knows? Athena/Ryan, Kula/Chan? Aarrggh…***Dies of nosebleed**** Some characters are probably OOC, but not by much. Any suggestions are welcome, so please R&R.)


	4. PSYCHO BALLLLLL!

**Chapter 4: PSYCHO BBBBAAAALLL!!!!!**

****

            The sun shone down upon a parched, barren desert.

            Cawing, vultures circled overhead, waiting for an unfortunate victim.

            Movement! There, on the sands below!

            Two figures faced one another, just barely visible in the shimmering heat. Around them, a vaguely circular barrier had been set up. Cameras circled, capturing these moments for eternity.

            The vultures circled ever inward. There would be much food today.

            Then, a blade flashed upwards, clawing a vulture from the sky. With an unceremonious _thud, it struck the hard desert sand._

            Andro reached down, and yanked the blade out, cleaning it on the thing's feathers. He sniffed. "Damn birds. The smell's never gonna come off."

            He looked at his opponent. Bao, for his part, blinked, staring straight back. The little boy was more than a little freaked out, watching Andro calmly wipe his weapon clean. 

            "I got up at 6 a.m. and took a plane here for this?"

            Well, better to get this fight over and done with.

            Andro bowed to his opponent…

            And ate a Psycho Ball.

            Cursing, he shook his head to clear it, and crouched, ready to block. NOT a good start.

            "PSYCHO BALL!!!"

            A second blast, as irritating as the first, flew towards him. With a leap, Andro evaded it.

            "Blade Toss!"

            Andro flung a knife forward, neutralizing the next shot.

            "PSYCHO BBBBAAAALLL!!!!!"

            Yet _another ball struck him. Now, that was a bad, bad tactical mistake. Andro __hated opponents with cheap fireballs._

            "PSYCHO…Huh?"

            Bao scratched his head, wondering where the bad man with blades had gone. Just to be safe, he let off a Psycho Ball, flinging the blast straight ahead…

            Except that Andro was behind him.

            "AERIAL SLASHER!!!"

            Andro comboed Bao into the air with unnecessary force, forming a spinning disk of razor-sharp edges. Tattered cloth fluttered down, as the blades reduced Bao's  Communist outfit to shreds.

            "What goes up must come down, kid! SPIKE SLAM!!!"

            The warrior slammed the weapons, hilt-first, into Bao's back, before kneeing him into the ground. Bao promptly curled into a little fireball, and almost seared Andro's hands off.

            The energy ball bounced, striking Andro in the stomach. 

            Andro grabbed Bao by the collar, and yanked him to eye-level, moments before he unleashed a powerful kick that sent the boy into the sky once more.

            Boos rang from the audience. They had come to watch a battle. This was a…a mockery. A freak show.

            "Get it over with, dumbass!"

            Seated at the side of the combat, Athena sniffed. 

            "Oh…Bao's so brave…But I should never have asked him to come…"

            Kensou, however, simply watched Andro perform the Final Slicer DM, filling the air with a maelstrom of blades, promptly reducing Bao to a bleeding wreck. His latent psychic abilities sparked, and began working overtime. 

            Careful observers would note that Andro avoided any face or hamstringing blows. Still, it didn't make the slicing and dicing any less painful. In a way, it must have hurt even more, as Andro worked away with both knives like a surgeon, cutting away at a piece of meat.

            "**WINNER IS…ANDRO!!!"**

            Kensou's eyes burned with psychic energy and with hate. He was next up, and anxious to reduce this heartless upstart to a pulp. Biting into a meat bun, he vaulted into the ring, ignoring Master Chin's half-sober entreaties.

            "Time to die, Andro! You're gonna pay for what you did to him!"

            Andro, for his own part, simply cleaned his blades on Bao's shredded T-shirt. "Hey, don't blame me. I didn't sign him up for _this contest. Blame yourself, for not taking care of him."_

            These were fighting words. 

            "SEN SHIPPO!!!"

            "SHADOW EDGE!!!"

            And the fight was on.

            It was a vicious, hard-fought battle. Andro was a deadly fighter, made even more powerful by the weapons he wore. Kensou was powered by rage.

            Andro slammed his head into Kensou, loosening a tooth and ramming him back. Kensou hit Andro with a psychic blast that smashed him ten feet away. A blade promptly sprouted from his knee.

            A Dragon Claw smash was met by a Flashing Blade Spin.

            The Arcing Thigh Drill was countered by the Really Painful Slash.

            Cameras spun madly, trying to keep up with the action, which had become a maelstrom of fists and steel.

            A continuous ringing sound filled the battlefield, as Kensou somehow managed to turn aside sharpened steel with his bare hands.

            Finally, Kensou knocked Andro down with a Tiger Hand Slap.

            Andro turned to one side. "Chan! Help!"

            Kensou got ready to deal a Dragon Barrage…

            And was shot with a handgun. 

            The Psycho Soldier, incredibly, ignored the pain.

            "CHORYUU RENKEN!!!"

            Kensou exploded into a 14-hit combo, mercilessly pummeling Andro. 

            "Die, damn you, DIE!"

            ***BLAM***

            Chan placed a second shot in his stomach. 

            Andro laid open Kensou's leg with a slash. Still Kensou fought on. He cancelled into a Shinryuu Seiou Rekkyaku, with several cracks that told of breaking ribs. Andro twitched several times, attempting to close his hand around his weapon. He failed, struggles finally ceasing under a relentless barrage of blows.

            "**WINNER IS…KENSOU!!"**

**            With a thin smile, Kensou ate an energy-restoring meat bun, before pointing at Ryan in classic "You're NEXT" fashion.**

            Underneath Ryan's hands, the steel bar he gripped crumpled.

            He was ready to vault over the railing, when…

            "I'll handle him."

            "Ogion? You mean…"

"Yes. All his abilities have been enhanced by his limited psychic powers. Therefore…" 

            The psychic let the sentence trail off.

            "Okay. Good luck."

            "I have no need for luck."

            "Cocky bastard…"

            Ogion floated over the railings, and landed in front of Sie Kensou.

            "Get ready."

            Kensou lunged, about to perform the opening movement of the Sen Shippo…and froze.

            Both him and Ogion just stood there, locked in psychic combat. The crowd began muttering. Neither moved. In the air between the two combatants, green fire flickered. Clusters of frost materalized, despite the heat.

            Suddenly, Kensou slumped, falling to one knee. Beads of sweat trickled down his face. Athena gasped. Chin, suddenly sobered up, ran to help his disciple…

            ***BLAM***

            "Don't. Interrupt. Them." 

            At the same moment, Ogion looked up. And smiled. It was not a nice smile.

            Kensou flew straight back, slamming into the barricades with bone-crushing force. All concerned winced, as telekinesis pinned him there. With a sharp pop, the first rib snapped.      

            Kensou slumped, completely limp. All the fight had been beaten out of him.

            Ogion shrugged. There was a second pop, and a crack that told of snapping bones.

            "And you call yourself a psychic?!"

With a regretful shake of his head, Ogion turned away, dismissing Kensou as harmless.

            "Goodbye, Sie Kensou."

            There was a last blast of P.K. force, and Kensou slumped, sliding slowly down the wall. He would recover, but only under srious medical care.

            "KENSOU!!!!"

            Athena and Chin ran over, attempting to return him to consciousness. 

            Ogion turned, and bowed to the audience. Desultory clapping began. Most were too shocked to do anything else.

*******************

            However, Chan and Ryan had different ideas.

            "What the hell happened?"

            "I don't know! He's never been like this before!"

            Chan groaned. 

            "I think we really hurt Kensou, you know. Maybe we should pull Ogion back."

            "No way! He's just won the fight!"

            "Exactly! And look at him!"

            Ryan looked. Truth be told, Ogion looked a little funny. He was breathing heavily, and barely visible flickers of fire licked along his hands. 

            "But so what? There's only one more fight."

            "Okay, Ryan. One more fight, and we're pulling him back for a big dose of tranquilizers."

            And so it was decided.

*******************

            Athena entered the ring, almost beside herself with fury.

            Sure, it was a tournament. Sure, people got injured. 

            But this other psychic was taking it to a whole new level. As Athena stepped in, jaws dropped, and phone numbers went up. 

            The clamor was immense.

            Athena turned, staring Ogion in the eye. She _wanted to see the look in his eyes as she hit him with a Phoneix arrow…_

            But she couldn't look away, as a stabbing lance of will jabbed into her mind. It was like dangling above a pit of acid. What waited for her in Ogion's mind was horror. Pure horror. It wanted to burn her, kill her, tear her to shreds…

            Athena tried to scream, but the words simply couldn't come out.

*******************

            "Okay. Enough is enough. Call Ogion off now."

            "That's what I told you before, Ryan."

            Chan leaned over the railing.

            "Ogion! That's enough!"

            No answer. It was like talking to a brick wall.

            "Can you hit him or something?"

            "I can't! I used my last Striker Bomb stopping the old man!"

            Help, however, came in a most unusual form. Chin realizing his last student was in danger, leapt from the stands, howling a warcry.

            Ogion turned, reacting to the sudden danger. A massive fist of sand slammed into Chin, forcing him back. But the damage had been done. Athena took the chance, and hit Ogion with a Psycho Ball.

            Before Ogion could recover, a sword of fire slashed him across the face. Stubbornly, he still stood, summoning the energy for a Big Sand Wave.

            His defiance promptly melted, as a look of utter horror spread across his face. Blood poured from his nose. With an audible "Thud", Ogion hit the ground. With a display of sheer will, he attempted to get up, but only managed to knock his head against a nearby rock.

*******************

            Ryan slumped into his seat.

            "Whew. Thank god that's over."

            "Yeah. I'll get Ogion's medication."

            "You do just that."

            He had just started to relax, when a horrible thought entered his mind.

            _He was next._

_            "Oh, no."_

*******************

            Athena watched, as yet another man entered the ring.

            She recognized him instantly, just like the first fighter. 

            "You're the boy Kensou met!"

            Shamefacedly, Ryan nodded. "Yeah, that's me. Sorry 'bout Ogion. We forgot to restrain him."

            "Okay. No problem." Athena managed a small smile, though she didn't really feel like smiling. With a wave to the crowd, she slid into an attacking pose.

            "By the way…What did you do to stop him?"

            Well, there was no harm in telling this normal person, was there?

            "I implanted an image in his mind…Of me in my older outfit."

            "Huh?"

            Athena sent Ryan a short telepathic image of exactly what she meant.

            Swallowing, Ryan nodded.

            "That explains the nosebleed."

*******************

            Chan, the last conscious fighter for the DHS Team, fiddled with his video camera, recording the conversation for all eternity.

            "Man, wait till the guys at home hear this!"

*******************

            "WAVE CANNON!"

            "CRYSTAL SHOOT!"

            This battle was far more even than the Kensou/Ogion slaughter.

            Athena used her projectiles, and wide range of tricks, to escape from Ryan. Ryan, on his part, managed to counter every incoming projectile, sometimes managing to land a lucky punch or kick.

            Then, he tripped over a prone figure, lying on the ground.

            "Huh?"

            Chin kicked Ryan into the air, clubbing him with his bottle for good measure. Bleary-eyed, the old man shook a finger in Ryan's face.

            "And thash tach ya to keep ya hands ofs ma shudents!"

            Ryan bowled him over, and flipped upright.

            "Sorry, old-timer!"

            "Haaa…SHINING CRYSTAL BIT!"

            With one glance at Athena's new outfit, Ryan's eyes glazed over, and went a bit unfocused.

Hell, half the ring's eyes fastened onto that last part. A number of front- row fanboys fainted dead away. In the sleep of the barely conscious, Sie Kensou and Ogion twitched, and promptly began bleeding again. 

*******************

            Chan fiddled with his video camera, hammering at the "RECORD" button with nerveless fingers.

            "Man, wait till the guys at home _see this!"_

*******************

           {Hmm?} Athena thought, noticing Ryan's reaction. {Let's try that again.} She repeated the super, and Ryan's eyes glazed over a bit again.

"PHONEIX ARROW!!"

*zap*

"OW!"

{And one more time!}

"NO YOU DON'T!!!"

            Ryan had gotten up from the attack, utterly pissed. His eyelids twitched. Athena tried to pull off her DM once more, knowing that it was probably too late…

            "THAT…WAS…CHEAP!!! Prepare yourself…STORM…OF…VENEGANCE REMIX!!!"

            Far, far above, black storm clouds gathered.

            And for once, in the barren desert, it began to rain.

*******************

            ***FOOPM***

            Chan opened an umbrella above his head.

            Somehow, he wasn't really surprised. 

            When one hung around a psychic, a psycho, and a Jeet Kun Do exponent who could control the weather, you kinda expected things like this to happen.

*******************

            In the stands, the crowd scrambled for shelter. The desert temperature hadn't lent itself to many umbrellas, despite the few massive ones already positioned as sunscreen. Those who had counted on a suntan were suddenly severely disappointed.

            Cursing, the cameramen lugged their heavy rigs into the comparative dryness of their trucks. At least a few would still work there.

            Knife-like streaks of lightning crackled down, bracketing Athena. She tried to teleport, but who could outrun lightning? 

            A well-aimed blast blew her onto her nicely rounded behind, blinding Athena for a brief moment. Then, a bar of electricity hurtled earthwards, literally connecting heaven and Earth.

            As quickly as they had appeared, the storm clouds dispersed.

            Humming "Singing in the Rain", of all things, Ryan raised his hand in a victorious salute.

*******************

            Benimaru, eyes fixed on the television screen, blinked hard, shaking his head to clear it.

            "I'll have to ask him how he does that."

            Somewhere else, in Shingo's apartment, the teenager sulked. 

            "It's not fair! Kusangi-san gets fire. Benimaru gets electricity. Iori get cool purple flames. And _he gets to control the weather! It's not fair…"_

*******************

            Chin, now completely drunk, looked up into the suddenly clear sky. 

            "{Hic} Is eisher raining or dry. Maks up yoush mind. {Hic}"

            Geese Howard's agent ran over to Ryan, waving a sheet of paper.

            "I knew it! This is a Thunder Break ripoff, according to here andhereandhereandAARGH…"

            The last words were pronounced with a croak, as Ryan's hands locked around his throat. The man gulped, as he saw a pair of eyes, crackling with energy, stare into his.

            "I. Don't. F*cking. Care."

            "Please don't kill me…pleasepleasepleaseplease…"

            "STORM OF VENEGANCE!!!!"

            There was a universal sigh of disgust, as people began fighting for shelter once again.

            ***FOOPM***

            Sighing, Chan opened his umbrella once more. He was getting really sick of this.

(Whew. Well, as you can see, Ogion and Andro are VERY different from Ryan and Chan. Just call them the "Dark side of DHS." I actually hadn't planned to involve them in this battle, but realized that they hadn't made a serious appearance yet. : ( Okay, they're both murderous psychopaths who would put Ryuji Yamazaki to shame. Especially Ogion. Man, that character literally writes himself…Nevermind.

By popular demand, the next fight will be against…THE AOF TEAM!!! As always…please R&R. Thank you very much, and god bless. Merry Christmas. Oh, and by the way, if anyone wants to make any story/character love interest/special moves suggestions, feel free to e-mail me, at burnout02urza@yahoo.com )


	5. BOW DOWN BEFORE YOUR SENSEI! MWEEHEHEHEH...

**Chapter 5: The interlude continues… **

          He was going to be sick.

            Very soon. Very quickly. And very violently.

            Andro threw up, tossing up the remains of his lunch, as well as most of his expensive breakfast.

            He felt hands propping him up, slapping him on the back.

"Get it all out, Andro."

Ryan's voice.

"Jesus! Kensou really messed him up!"

"He ate about five Psycho Balls, three combos, and eight special moves. I can't believe he's not dead."

"Shut up, Ogion. You did a great job too, almost disqualifying us all."

"It was a fight. Accidents do happen. And that's funny, coming from a guy whose eyes glazed every time he saw Athena."

"Yeah, well, at least I wasn't dying of a nosebleed at the end of my fight."

"Huh. Good thing I didn't start a freak storm that almost got us all sued."

"Guys…I don't like where this is going."

"…And beating up the agent too…What a dumbass idea…"

"GUYS! THIS IS A HOSPITAL, DAMNIT! SHUT UP!!!"

Sudden silence.

Then, the air was filled with the complaints of various patients.

"Shut up!"

"It's an air-raid! Where's me tin hat?"

"How much did I pay for this?"

"I wish to complain!"

"Whut?"

"Oh god."

******************

Four days later…

"Good news. Your friends are fully recovered. I trust that there will be no long-term physical damage. Their minds, however…"

Ogion was lugged out in a strait-jacket, gibbering. 

"Needles. I HATE needles! Get them away! Get them away!!!"

An injector full of a strange-looking liquid turned, jabbing into the arm of the orderly who held it.

"NO!!! THAT HAD ENOUGH CYANIDE TO KILL AN ELEPHANT!!!"

Andro, who had just recovered the previous day, raised an eyebrow.

"To kill an elephant?"

"Huh. He probably won't even feel it. Ogion's own mixture is enough to stun half the school."

They stared dispassionately at the orderly, who was being to twitch and foam at the mouth. "Then again, for normal people, the effect might be different."

"AHHH! IT BURNS! IT BURRNNNNSSS!!!"

******************

            Not long later, the same day, Chan and Ryan once more ventured into the crowded streets of Tokyo. Ogion and Andro were locked in the hotel, their keycards liberated from them.

            In a moment of genius, Ryan had cancelled the phone line, too, to prevent them from calling for room service. They could easily afford the repair bill. Due to another round of bets on their own team, and a contract from the local meteorological station, they were temporarily rich.

            "Who are these 'Art Of Fighting' guys? Maybe we should do a bit of research about them."

            It had begun as a noble enterprise. 

            It had ended in utter chaos. 

            Observe.

******************

"Whew. I'm tired."

Chan slumped onto a nearby bench, exhausted. They had been walking for several hours now, asking random passerby's the exact location of their oncoming opponents.

"Why _are we doing this, anyway?"_

Ryan struck a dramatic pose.

"To scout out our opponents…To test the waters before blundering in…"

He paused.

"Come to think of it, I don't know."

Ryan looked around for a moment, having lost his train of thought. Finally, his gaze settled on a nearby sign: "WELCOME TO KING'S BAR. PLEASE HAVE CREDIT CHECKED AT DOOR. TONIGHT'S SPECIAL GUESTS: THE ART OF FIGHTING TEAM."

 "This looks promising. C'mon!"

"Hey, I don't think…"

"Look at the sign! We just go in, take a look, and get out. Easy."

"Hey! Last time you said that, we…"

But it was a bit too late. With a deathgrip on Chan's arm, Ryan began dragging him, slowly but forcibly, towards the bar.

If they had looked behind them, they would have noted the sudden, light falling of snow. If they had looked back, they would definitely have taken note of this strange event.

But they didn't look back, so the point is moot. 

********************

"Yo! Another Martini over here!"

"Coming!"

King let out a sigh. The bar was already packed, and more people were pouring in.

Fine, the KOF Tournament WAS good for business. In normal times, King would've been thrilled by the sheer mass of humanity here, coming just to see the famous "Art Of Fighting" Team.

However...

King felt a _little jealous. The crowd was mainly here to meet the fighters, rather than to actually have anything to drink._

Still…

Ryo's family _really needed the money this time round. Robert Garcia's father was on the lam, probably for tax evasion. And that meant that the Dojo's main source of income had been crippled._

A stage appearance like this would probably help their ailing finances, giving them a much needed boost in students…

But somehow, King still felt somehow dissatisfied with the entire arrangement. Pausing, she ran the entire thing through her mind one last time, trying to sort her discontent, and mixed feelings about the entire matter.

She felt bad about her own jealousy, and good that she felt bad about it. With that all settled, she promptly adjusted her bow-tie, and headed back to work. Even with her extra staff, it was hard to cope with the volume and speed of requests that came in.

Well, that really matter. Work was work, and King would handle it in her own way.

"How 'bout my Martini? Geez! Some service…"

King seriously considered feeding the loudmouth a Venom Strike, but decided against it, reaching for the bottle instead.

********************

"Ryan, this has to be your dumbest idea so far."

"Hey, relax. The Art Of Fighting dudes are gonna be up on that stage any minute now. Their appearance is supposed to raise money for someplace called 'The Sazaki Dojo'. Ever heard of it?"

"No."

"Same here. Hey! Martini, please!"

"Ryan, you're sixteen. Under legal age. Maybe you shouldn't drink…"

"Don't worry. What else is there to do in a bar?"

"Fine. But I'm not lugging your drunk ass outta…"

He stopped, as he saw a familiar figure making it's way through the crowd.

Ryan followed Chan's line of sight.

"Hey, isn't that the girl you told us about? You know, the one you saved? K…K…."

"Kula."

"Yeah. Hey, she's coming this way!"

Indeed, Kula was carefully treading her way through the crowd, heading towards their table. After some carefully placed elbows, she finally got to their table, at almost the same time Ryan's drink arrived.

She adjusted the jacket she wore, over her ever-present bodysuit, before pulling up a chair.

"Hi, Chan! Nice to see you again!"  
            Once more, Chan felt a massive surge of blood pressure, but firmly clamped down on it. Ignoring Ryan's leer, he resolutely got out a sensible reply.

"It's good to see you too, Kula. I see you're still wearing the coat I gave you."

The girl blushed.

"It's a good coat. Thanks."

***************

Ogion, locked in the room with Andro, began to twitch as his face turned red.

"Andro…get…insulin…"

"Man, I didn't know he was diabetic…"

***************

"So, what brings you here, Kula?"

"Oh…My sisters told me I could go out for a while. And, as I had been watching all your matches…Well, I saw the sign, and came to check it out."

Chan felt a strange sense of suspicion growing. _That's almost too coincidental for me to believe. Still, he pushed it to the bottom of his mind, for later reference._

"But what are you two doing here?"

"Well, we came to…"

"…Celebrate our second victory," Chan said, casting a firm, meaningful glance at Ryan.

"Oh, that's right. Bartender! A bottle of champagne here!"

"Damn."

**************

Meanwhile, outside a certain hotel, two figures made plans.

"Okay. Our little sister should be distracting our main target, K'. While he and his friends remains unaware, I'll send some troopers into their room, to prepare to ambush them."

"Diane, I thought that teams fought in groups of four. What if someone's still inside?"

"No, K' won't do that. He'll want to keep all his friends near him, just in case."

Diane reached into her outfit, and produced a handphone.

"A handphone? What happened to the uncrackable communication frequency?"

"So NESTS had to cut its budget. So sue me."

Not waiting for Foxy's reply, Diane dialed a certain number. A helicopter drifted by, dropping several man-sized objects on the roof. One by one, they rappelled down the side, heading towards a specific room on a specific level.

If the glass had been transparent on this side of the building, the NESTS troopers probably won't have made it to the second-to-top level. Then again, no one would have even looked up, anyway.

**************

"Rrrrggh…Damn door, can't get it open…."

Ogion and Andro had been trying to get the door open for some time, doing everything short of chopping it down.

Andro collapsed, exhausted.

"Whew. We've tried everything! And still…THE DAMN DOOR WON'T OPEN!!!"

Ogion raised a hand. 

"Andro, perhaps you're looking at this wrongly. What's work with simply waiting for them to get back?"

Andro looked up, and opened his mouth to speak.

"Because…"

He never got to finish his sentence, as the glass-paneled wall exploded inwards.

"Shit!"

Black shadows flitted in, stubby, menacing-looking weapons in their hands.

Andro realized he was in a world of trouble. 

However, when an unseen force smashed one back, driving him back through the window and into oblivion, Andro knew the odds weren't THAT bad after all.

**************

Chan was getting more than slightly irked. 

It was already half-past-eight, and there was still no sign of the Art of Fighting team. Somehow, he had a feeling that this was probably just a gimmick to draw in the crowds.

Even worse, Ryan and Kula had been drinking steadily. Judging from the number of bottles littering the table, they were probably working on a world record.

"He-e-e-ey," Kula garbled, "dis feel real good!  I feel better tha-an I feel in my whole life!  I should do more often, I should!"

           Ryan, still _relatively sober, chuckled._

            "Okay…But sobering up is gonna be extremely painful."

            "Doesn't matter…masher…ugh…"

            Kula slumped, and almost fell off her chair. A lucky catch by Chan stopped her.

            "Mmm…Thasnk…"

            She leaned forward, trapping his hand, and was promptly out like a light.

            Chan, face beet-red, glared at Ryan, who was now grinning like a pumpkin. 

"What. Did. You. Put. In. That."

"Nosching. I's just got a bottle of this bars strongest."

"Ryan. I'm gonna kill you."

Indeed, Chan was getting to his feet to do just that, when a loudhailer boomed across the bar.

            "And now presenting…THE ART OF FIGHTING TEAM!!!!"

            A girl who looked suspiciously like the bartender, an uncomfortable-looking guy in an orange gi, a ponytailed young man holding a mike, and a man wearing an ogre mask strode onto stage.

            "YO! My name's Robert Garcia! Today, my teammates, Ryo and Takuma Sazaki, are going to demonstrate the ancient, mystic art of Kyogen karate."

****************

            Andro ducked, and rammed his elbow into the trooper behind him, knocking him down.

            The fighter would have killed for a club, a knife, anything, rather than just his bare hands. But in situations like this, what came to hand would have to do.

            Reaching down, Andro yanked the gun from his opponent's nerveless fingers, giving a charging man a full clip of whatever it had.

            ***Thud Thud SPLAT***

            There was no blood. The man staggered, but kept on coming, returning fire with his own weapon. Some sort of…gel dripped from the impact spot, which had evidently failed to 

            Andro rolled, and adjusted his aim, hitting him in the head. With a despairing wail, his attacker fell back, smashing yet another hole in the glass window.

            Due to the narrow length of the window, the troopers could only come in two at a time. Even better, their weapons were packed with non-lethal gel rounds and stun 

grenades, making hurting Andro or Ogion a lost cause. 

            But that wasn't the best part. These soldiers didn't seem to know how to fight hand-to-hand. Andro had proved it, by single-handedly dismantling four with his bare hands.

            Ogion came out from the table he had been hiding under. Most of attackers hasn't even known he was there till it was too late. And when they had, most had simply run away, preferring to take their chances with Andro.

 Their mistake.

            "Is that all?"

            "Yeah. The guy I blew through the window was the last."

            All around them, the once-opulent room was in a mess. Concussion grenades had cracked and warped the walls. Holes had been punched in the glass by gel rounds. Furniture was ruined, after having been used as clubs and discarded.

            For a long moment, Ogion and Andro stared at the hole in the glass window.

            "We gotta get out of here," Andro said, hurriedly grabbing his suitcase and his blades. 

            "It would be sensible to vacate the premises, yes." 

Ogion picked the essential luggage, using telekinesis to grab what he couldn't lift. 

"First, we break down the door. Then, we get out of here. Finally, we find somewhere else to stay, and contact the others. They'll know what to do."

As far as Andro was concerned, this tournament was taking a turn for the worse. Still, a certain thought played at his doubts: _Who sent them? Why? Why WEREN'T they trying to kill us?_

Well, those questions could wait for later. Staying alive took top priority.

****************

"HAOU SHOUKOU KEN!!!"

"HAOU SHOUKOU KEN!!!"

***BOOM***

The crowd _oohed, as the massive fireballs impacted, creating a massive shockwave._

Chan watched intently, as the two rolled, kicked, and flung short-range fireballs at each other. Every time Ryo Sazaki was about to get the upper hand, "Mr. Karate" would flash an unexpected move, bringing them back to where they started.

"They're pretty good, aren't they, Ryan? Ryan?"

He turned. Ryan was snoring face-down in a puddle of beer, an ice-bucket next to him. Not a single bottle remained in it.

"Not him too…"

Kula murmured something in her sleep, and gripped on even tighter to Chan's hand. She leaned her white-haired head against it, shifting slightly.

"Huh…She looks so cute when she's asleep…NO! What am I thinking?!"

***RING RING***

Chan almost leapt three feet straight up, as his handphone rang.

He yanked it from his belt, and held it to his ear, somehow managing it with only one hand free.

"Hello…Andro? But we cut the line…WHAT? Attacked? How? Where are you guys? Wake Ryan up? Get our asses over there? Sure! Bye!"

He reached out, and shook Ryan. 

"Wake up, man! We're in trouble!"

No response.

"I said wake up!"

Chan grabbed the ice bucket, and upended it over Ryan's head.

"RYAN! WAKE UP! FRIGGING' JACKASS!!!"

"Whu…What? Wha?"

"Andro and Ogion got attacked! They moved to some other hotel, and we gotta meet them there! MOVE MOVE MOVE!!!"

"But how about your girl there?"

Chan looked down. He had completely forgotten about that detail.

"She's not 'my girl', damnit! I'll just leave a note or something!"

After several frenzied minutes, Ryan and Chan bundled out, leaving Kula in the able hands of King, along with a note for her when she woke up.

****************

"Unit one, please respond. Unit one, please respond. Damn! No answer."

Foxy, looking disgustingly pleased with herself, smiled.

"I TOLD you. K' WOULD have taken all his friends along, but no one else would have. Evidently, our quarry had left some people to 'guard the fort', as you would say."

"Your point is?"

"Maybe we're after the wrong guy. After all, NESTS told us K' was a guy with fire powers. All we know about this 'Chan' is that he has a very large, very strong bodyguard, and power of a sort. And maybe not even that."

"I feel the same way, but what can we do? Our superiors told us to keep this guy under observation. Besides…Kula kinda likes him."

"WHAT? Our little sister has…"

"Hey, maybe she wasn't created naturally, but she's as human as you and I."

Diane let off a knowing wink, and nudged Foxy meaningfully. 

"How could you allow that?"

"I didn't see the harm. Besides, this will probably be one of the few times she's allowed to wander free. Give her a break, will ya?"

"***Sigh*** Diane, you indulge her too much."

"So do you."

For a long moment, both women stared at each other. Then, as one, they began to laugh.

******************

Meanwhile, in a seedy dive in the slums…

"Andro? You swapped our hotel room for THIS?"

"Whoah, cool down, Ryan. If we had stayed there, our mysterious pursuers would know where we are instantly. But HERE, no one will ever find us."

"Hmm. You may have a point."

Ryan's foot came down on a cockroach, squashing it into the ground. 

The room was a rather small one, shared by the DHS Team. It was a far cry from the luxury of the hotel.

Still, at least it had running water and electricity. It couldn't be so bad, could it?

But then, it really didn't matter. Making plans did.

*****************

"…Right. Now everything's been planned, how about the tournament?"

Silence. The team cast glances among itself.

"Tell you what. Let's put it to a vote. All who want to stay, raise your hand."

As one, the entire team raised its hands.

Chan scratched his head.

"I don't get it. If you guys wanted to continue in the first place, why didn't you just say it?"

"Well, we thought that everyone else didn't want to continue."

"Aarrgh…Okay. Just get some sleep, guys. In a couple of days, we'll be up against the AOF team. Sadly, Ryan got drunk, while I was…distracted. Thus, we don't know much about them."

"But what DO we know?"

"Uh…They have fireball projectiles pronounced HA-OH-SHIKEN. Also, one of their fighters wears an ogre mask. Oh, and he calls himself 'Mr  Karate'."

 Once more, the team struggled to digest this information.

"Hey, I'm not making this up!"

       *****************

King's Bar, after the performance…     

Takuma... wasn't feeling quite like himself. Takuma... was ready to party.           

Going over to his bag, he pulled out something he knew he'd need for just such an occasion: a goofy-looking mask. Never leave home without it. He put it on, climbed to the top of the bar, and shouted his message to the world:              "AHAHAHAHHAHAHA! BOW DOWN TO YOUR SENSEI, FOOLS! I AM MR. KARATE!"

Robert's face paled. "Aw, no...The stress must've been too much…"    "King... what did you give Takuma over there?" Ryo asked.       

"Water! I think..."                                                                                                                     

"All of you are great warriors, but you all have much to learn! Join me and I shall provide enlightenment for you, and you, and youandyouandyou..."

Ryo snapped his fingers and pulled out an envelope. "Aha! I was wondering what they gave this to me for!"                    "Huh?" 

"Something his psychiatrist gave me after '99." Ryo read the envelope. "It says, 'In Case of Mr. Karate, Open This.'"

He promptly did so. The group read the small paper that was inside, and all of them got great big smiles on their faces.

"...so, my friends, when you think of a grade-A asskicking, think of Mr. Karat--"

Everyone rushed. Takuma never knew what hit him. 

(Ah…the end of yet another "between fight" chapter. And yes, these chapters are necessary to the plotline. Right now, I kinda pity the DHS Team. From staying in an opulent hotel to…to…some kinda run-down shack. Poor guys. Seriously speaking, their situation has been going from bad to worse, just like the rest of their life. As always, any suggestions are welcome, so please R&R. Special thanks to Nikki, for suggesting the AOF team as the DHS Team's next opponent.

And finally… Keep those suggestions coming in, dudes! Bye!)


	6. Mr Karate, meet WorldEater

**Chapter 6: Mr. Karate, meet World-Eater**

An hour before the fight…

            "Okay, people. The arena you're about to fight in is an aquarium. Just remember, the glass tanks are _extremely fragile."_

            "So?" Andro asked, performing his daily ritual of blade-sharpening.

            "If you break them…"

            "Yes?"

            "If…"

            "Yeah?"

            "Don't. Please don't."

            "Ah."

************

            Chan stood in the ring, watchful and alert, waiting for his opponent to come. Who would it be? The blond woman? The pony tailed young man? The guy in the orange gi?

            …The psycho in the ogre mask. 

            The man strode into the ring, and bowed. Chan returned it, before switching into a martial arts stance.

            "Just to ask," Chan said. "What's your name? So I'll be able to find out who you were."

            "AHAHAHAHA!!!! I AM…**MR. KARATE!!!!"**

**            Chan smiled. **

            "Well, Mr. Karate, meet World-eater."

            As if on cue, the spectral image of Chan's Stand roared up behind him, ready for battle once more.

************

            In the stands (no pun intended), Ryo slapped his forehead.

            "I can't **_believe this. You sent Mr. Karate up there?"_**

            Robert shifted uncomfortably.

            "Uh…We couldn't seem to sober him up, and decided that he would probably be too unpredictable as a Striker. So…He's going to get the crap beaten out of him, you know. But, we kinda thought he would take out at least one of them before he went."

            Mr. Karate went flying, as Chan ducked a Shouran Kyaku and countered with a flurry of slashes from his Stand.

            "See?"

"Hey! He's my DAD, okay? Have faith?"

            "Huh."

            "Oh, by the way, as King was to be the Striker, who's replacing her?"

            "You, of course."

            "But…How?"

            "You asked."

************

            Chan drew back to his corner of the makeshift ring.

            His respect for Mr. Karate was slowly growing. Somehow, the man seemed to have a counter for all his moves. Drawing his Handgun, he let off a shot, only to have it countered by a Ko'ou Ken.

            He brought out World-Eater again…

            …To be brought down by a Keima Uchi.

            Chan flipped up, knocking Mr. Karate away with a wake-up uppercut, before launching into a five-hit beatdown known as the Rage Buster, sending in a kick for good measure.

             "KO'OU KEN!!!"

            "MAGE CANNON!"

            "KO'OU KEN!!!"

            "MAGE CANNON!"

            "KO'OU KEN!!!!"

            "KO'OU KEN!!!"

            "MAGE CANNON!"

            "KO'OU KEN!!!"

            "MAGE CANNON!"

            "KO'OU KEN!!!!"

            "MAGE CANNON!"

            "KO"OU KEN!!!"

            "MAGE…***Click*** Aw, damn."

            The Stand-wielder didn't bother to reload, seeing Mr. Karate lunging towards him, preparing some kind of Whirlwind Kick.

            "OGION!!"

            The psychic leapt in, and flung up an invisible shield. Takuma ran straight into it, chipping a piece off his ogre mask. With a growl, he got up, ready to lay the smackdown on Chan.

            He was promptly interrupted, as a spectral hand slapped him several times, while another rammed him in the stomach. Chan's sliding kick didn't help matters much, sending the karate master sprawling.

            Quickly recovering, Takuma clobbered Chan with a flying kick, snapping his head back. Chan swung his empty handgun, pistol-whipping him across the ear.

            Both clutching their new wounds, the combatants began to pace once more.

************

            Ryan watched the battle impatiently, tapping his foot.

            "Why doesn't Chan end the battle? He has more than enough power already!"

            Andro decided to chip in.

            "Ryan, Chan's a Stand-user first, and a fighter second. He needs to be able to concentrate, to be able to do anything. And right now, being in close combat makes it hard to focus."

            Indeed, it was true. World-eater floated behind Chan aimlessly, as if looking for some direction. 

            "C'mon! Chan hasn't lost a fight yet! He won't lose to this masked dumbass…"

            Ryan paused, wondering. 

            "Will he?"

            "…"

************

            Suddenly, after some repetitive circling, closing and circling yet again, Chan stopped.

            "No more hand-to-hand stuff! World-Eater, sic him!"

            "Uh-oh."

            With a roar, the Stand lunged forward, sword-arm slashing, and fanged mouth biting. Takuma hit it with an uppercut, a spinning kick, and a knee, with utterly no effect whatsoever.

            He was flung away, in a world of pain, tossed through the air to land…on his feet? Takuma drew his _chi into himself, air shimmering around him. _

            A massive orange blast flung World-Eater away. Slowly, the Stand got up, and prepared to resume the assault.

            "This isn't over yet, friend!"

             "I'm not your friend, Mr. Karate!"

************

            Looking smug, Ryo nudged Robert in the ribs.

            "See? My dad still has some fight left in him!"

            "Yeah. But he's having some problems with the 'Stand' thingie."

            Even as they watched, Takuma was set up for a painful attack, as World-Eater grabs his arms, and Chan aimed his reloaded Handgun at him.

            "Oh, he'll manage."

            Takuma twisted, flinging World-Eater at its owner, who barely missed with his weapon. 

            "You watch."

            King, as was her wont, said nothing.

***********

            Chan rolled away from a double spinning kick, letting off a snap shot that burned a hole through Takuma's shirt. Unperturbed, Mr. Karate performed some kind of crooked punch, one that went straight under his guard and knocked the very breath of out him.

            "AEGIS SMASH!"

            God, he didn't know why he called it that name. It was basically just a close-in, efficient shield bash. Takuma was once again pushed to a comfortable distance, though he once again began to close.

            Chan fired again. Takuma slapped the bullet away with his hand.

            "I don't believe this!"

            Just to be sure, he let off another shot, this one aimed lower. Mr. Karate swore, and dropped to one knee, returning fire with yet another of those blue fireballs.

            Chan was getting rather irritated with those fireballs, but supposed he couldn't complain.

            "World-Eater: PAUSE."

            All around him, everything froze. The crowd stopped cheering. The faint trickle of water hitting the ground stopped. 

            Ryan, in the middle of his shouting, looked utterly ridiculous, mouth gaping.

            Ryo, attempting to leap at Chan from his bench, was stuck in midair, unable to move.

            ***BANG***

            Chan let off a round at Ryo.

            ***BANG*** 

            He put one into Takuma's other leg.

            Just for good measure, Chan yanked off the man's tengu mask, and commanded World-Eater to slug him in the face, before the timestop wore off.

As far as the audience was concerned, Takuma hurtled up and back without being touched, slamming into - and *through* - yet another glass tank, to land, unconscious, in a pile of splinters.                                                                             Ryo was sent tumbling, his flight path altering into an uncontrolled fall. With a  _thud, he struck the floor, just outside the ring, wondering what had just hit him._

Chan, tossing the mask to the ground, posed for the cameras, both him and World-Eater pointing straight at the Art Of Fighting Team.

***********

            "Did you see that?" Robert asked King, scratching his head.                                                                                          "See what?"                                                                                                                                                                 "My point exactly."

***********

            King nimbly leapt into the ring, to the appreciative cheers of several fanboys. Sliding into her classic Muay Thai stance, she prepared for battle.

            Chan took his usual casting pose, gun aimed at his opponent, body turned sideways to reduce his striking profile. "Let's go!"

            With a short bow, King flipped through the air, ready to feed him a Mirage Kick. Her murderous intent was suddenly cut short, as she crashed straight into his Stand's fist.

            Shaking off the impact, she promptly kicked a blue fireball at him.

            "VENOM STRIKE!!!"

            "***Sigh*** MAGE CANNON!"

            "DOUBLE VENOM STRIKE!!!"

            "MAGE…Ouch!!"

            King smiled, as the second strike smacked Chan in the torso.

            "WORLD-EATER: BITE!"

            The Stand's ghostly maw took a large bite out of the pavement, missing King. She was already far away, and firing off Double Venom Strikes as fast as she could.

            Chan got his Stand to block most with its shield, though the occasional one got through. Growling, he returned fire with his handgun.

King's mind wasn't entirely on the battle. She wondered exactly why this boy seemed so familiar. By reflex, she dealt him a knee to the stomach, flinging him away as he tried to close.

            Then, recognition struck.

            "Hey! You're one of the two jerks who dropped a girl off at my bar!"

            Chan's face paled. He'd been hoping she wouldn't remember that.

            "And your friend didn't pay off his bar tab!"

            Ryan, his face white as a ghost, tried to burrow behind Andro, who simply grinned and blocked his way.

            The audience, initially rooting for the brash kid, began jeering at him.

            "Oh, and I read the note you left for her. Pretty sweet, wasn't it, CHAN?"

            That struck a nerve. Chan's face went black with rage.

            "GAHHH!!! DIEEEEEE!!!!!"

            He went berserk, firing away at King, not even registering when his weapon went empty. World-Eater likewise surged forward, slashing and pummeling

            Of course, King made him pay for it, in the form of an Illusion Dance, and a whole series of backflips. Somehow Chan didn't seem to feel it, powering through the strikes like they weren't there, and hitting her anyway. 

            Still, they were having some effect on him. Here, a jab would knock his glasses askew. There, his gun would almost get knocked away by a well-timed kick. Slowly, the effects were adding up. King just hoped they added up fast enough, as the weird thing behind him tried to suplex her _through the floor._

***********

            "Whoah." Andro watched the fight in astonishment.

            "He's really angry. I wonder exactly what he wrote in that letter…"

            Ryan scratched his head.

            "I don't get it. All he wrote was 'We're sorry we got you drunk. Something came up, so we had to leave in a hurry. I've paid off your bar tab, so you don't have to worry about it. Till we meet again, Chan.' There was nothing even remotely mushy in it."

            "It figures. You know Chan. Even _mentioning that he hoped to see a girl again is enough to give him a nosebleed. The fact that someone else knows it…"_

***********

            King was beginning to feel sorry for bringing up the topic. In all actuality, she had never really read the letter, but could guess what was probably inside. 

            However…She had accomplished her goal, which had been to make him angry. Angry people made mistakes. But then again, this guy wasn't making any she knew.

            ***WHAMWHAMWHAMWHAMWHAMWHAM***

            "RAGNAROCK BLADE!!!!"

            King leapt over the massive slash, finally getting past the Stand, and ending up behind its enraged wielder.

            Chan struggled to turn, as for a moment; his back was exposed to King. A Silent Flash made him pay for his error, moments before it was finished with a Mirage Dance that knocked him unconscious.

            King adjusted her bowtie, and tossed a wilted rose next to Chan's unconscious form. Then, she turned, and stared straight at Ryan.

            "You're going down." 

            Andro gave him a little shove.

            "Remember man, you're the next one up…"

            Ryan gulped.

***********

            Slowly, Ryan got into the ring, looking like a man who knew his end and dreaded it.

            Recognizing their favorite fighters, cheers began once more. Someone held up a "GO RYAN" sign, filled with a stylized motif of an ocean.

            All this was taken into consideration in a heartbeat, as King smacked his face to one side, and Trap Shot him into the air. Ryan quickly struck back with his Drill Spin, crashing into the ground. There had to something he could do to even the equation. Here was simply too dry to do…

            Waitaminute…An ocean? That gave him an idea.

            King saw Ryan's attention diverted, and hit him with a Double Venom Strike. But then, she noticed that the boy was beginning to glow with a strange blue light, jacket flapping in a sudden wind.

            Along the walls, the glass of the aquarium's enclosures began to crack. 

***********

            Andro looked at Ryan, realizing what was about to happen.

            "Ogion! We might like to get down about…"

***********

            The tournament executive clutched his head in his hands and began to swear.

            The crowd, watching water begin to pour in, scattered to a safe distance. Nearby, several barrels of lager and soft drinks exploded, sending a sticky, wet wave to join the larger stream of water. 

***********

            A massive tidal wave flooded into the arena, consisting of water, seaweed and several surprised fish.

            "THE LAWLESS OCEAN!!!!"  
            "…now."

            "Oh, damn." 

            King tried to run away from the wave.

            An emphasis on _tried._

            It picked her up, and slammed her against the sides of the makeshift arena, leaving a King-sized dent in the armored_ side._

            Down but still not yet out, King leapt through the air, bringing a foot down in a flying drop-kick. Ryan tried to counter, but the girl's long legs beat him to the punch, neatly cracking him across the head.

            Ryan went down, sinking into the knee-high wading pool. King, landed perfectly, and looked down into the water, wondering whether he was still alive.

            Her answer came in the form of a Water Slash, followed by a Wave Cannon.

Water WAS draining out of the place, but extremely slowly. Staff quickly hurried over, to pump the rarer species of small fish into supplementary tanks.

Still, it was more than enough for Ryan to perform his water-based attacks.  Sloshing in the knee-high pool, the two charged each other. Punches and kicks were exchanged, and both fighters learned some quick 'bad ideas' about each other in a hurry.         

King found out it was a Bad Idea to try to meet Ryan in the air, as he dealt her a quick combination, ending with a powerbomb that sent her crashing to the ground.

Ryan found out it was a Bad Idea to try and come in at King with the Water Slash, as she nimbly evaded it, punishing him with a short combo of her own.                

King found out it was a Bad Idea to let Ryan get hold of her, as he slammed her into the ground, knocked her up into the air with his Shoryuken uppercut rip-off, and smashed her into the wall once again.   

She slid to the ground, propped herself up, and wobbled as she tried to retain her balance. "N-nice... I'll remem... remember that... one..." she managed to say before collapsing.

            Ryan looked at the devastation around him and whistled, before performing a few moving _katas. Reaching down, he picked up the now-soggy bill, and tore it in half, before flashing a gleaming smile to the audience._

            Fortunately, not everything was shattered. The tanks more than thirty feet away from Ryan had been spared. Of course, the aquarium would still cost an incredible amount of money to repair.

***************

            "I TOLD YOU!!! We should have disqualified him long ago!!!"

            The manager was NOT happy.

            "Every one of his attacks cause environmental damage, and cost us a crapload of cash. Don't you think we should drop him from the roster?"

            His assistant tossed him an envelope, in way of replying.

            "What's this?"

            "Cash. We made it by betting on him."

            The manager decided to shut up.

***************

            "So, you're Robert Garcia."

            "Yeah. And you're Ryan."

            "How'd you know?"

            "I've watched every one of your matches. I look forward to beating you." 

            "It won't be so easy."

            "We shall see."

            Robert and Ryan began circling, each in his respective fighting stance. They closed, beginning the time-honored dance of death.

            Robert lashed out with a Ryuuhan Shuu, only to be knocked back by an Axe kick. Ryan's follow-up combo was stopped cold, as a Gen'ei Ky struck his face. 

            Ryan caught Robert's foot, and sent him spinning, only to be kicked again as the man fell. Robert flung a fireball, which promptly rang off Ogion's psychic shield.

            "Yo, Ryo! A little help here?"

            "Coming!"

            Ryo flung an overhead projectile, forcing Ryan to duck straight into a right hook.

            Rolling away, Ryan rubbed his new bruise, spitting out a tooth.

            "You're good…I like a challenge."

            "You're not too bad yourself."

            Then, they came in fast and hard, fists and feet battering and pummeling. The action speeded up, as both warriors went into high gear.

            The sound of multiple impacts blurred into a single 'thwackthwackthwackthwack' hum. It was impossible to make up who was who. Occasionally, someone could make up that _that was Ryan, recovering from a backfist, and __that was Robert, charging up for yet another projectile…_

            Still, it was impossible to get more than scattered glimpses of the battle. However, from the amount of damage the two were dealing to each other, the battle couldn't last much longer…could it?

            It had to end somehow. 

            Suddenly, one of the blurs stumbled, and the other pounced on it, letting off attacks in quick succession. Ryan had the upper hand, and wasn't letting go.

            "STORM OF VENEGANCE!!!"

            There was a sudden intake of breath among the audience, who had witnessed Ryan's deadly finishing tactic before. Robert blocked, knowing it was already too late…

            But nothing happened. No storm clouds, no rain, and no lightning.

            "Damn…I keep forgetting it doesn't work indoors…"

            Seizing the advantage, Robert let Ryan have it with his OWN super.

"SDM RYUUKO RANBU!!!"

All went white as Robert glided forward, and pummeled Ryan into dreamland

            Stepping on Ryan's back, Robert gave the crowd a "V-for-victory" sign, while massaging his ribs with his free hand.

**************

            Andro, watching the new turn of events, broke down into laughter.

            "MWAHAHAHA!!! It's MY turn!"

            Ogion shook his head.

            "I don't know what Chan saw in this sociopath…"

**************

            Andro faced off against Robert, blades already drawn. A razor-sharp edge glinted on each one.

            "Bye- bye, Robert Garcia," Andro said, weapons weaving a pathway through the air. He tossed his blade and then dove in for a lunge to begin the fight.                  

            Robert  settled down quick enough, blocking the projectile and rolling away from the lunge. Unfortunately, he underestimated the blade's reach. The deep gash that was ripped into his thigh sprayed his blood in a crimson arc, painting his foe and the wall behind him.                         

            Andro smiled again. "First Blood." he stated grimly.                                                                                           Robert started to worry.

**************

            This fight couldn't possibly have been more different than the straight-up pummeling of the Ryan/Robert fight.

            Ryan and Robert had been trained in dojos, instilling in them several basic courtesies in battle: No kicks to the crouch, no hitting an opponent when he was down, etcetra. 

            In the first thirty seconds, Andro broke everyone of those rules, and more besides. He brought Robert down with a football tackle, got his blades out, and began slashing. After having his jacket shredded, Robert got a foot under Andro, and promptly sent him into the air.

            The fighter kicked off the ceiling, diving down towards the man. Robert quickly flung up one of his famous energy shields, searing Andro's suit. It didn't do him any good, either.

            Andro tossed his blade yet again, and Robert caught it by reflex.

            "Ha!"

            Then, he saw Andro charging in, ready to perform a very familiar super. His eyes glowed with a fiendish red light, and two blades were in hand once again.

            "Oh."

            "THE FINAL SHOWDOWN!!!"

            Robert tried to block, but quickly found himself studded with knives. Andro slid right pass him, arm out in classic anime position.

            For a moment, there was silence, as both fighters remained frozen.

            Then, slowly, Robert sank to his knees, and hit the floor.

            A thunderous ovation began, as what had happened sank in.

            Andro did a victory pose for the fans, and began strolling out of the ring… To feel his leg caught by a bloodied hand.

            "Why…Why did we lose?" Robert gasped, clinging on to consciousness.

            Andro smiled, an almost kindly one.

            "You, and the rest of your team, learned to fight in nice, clean training centers. Me…"

            He turned, glancing at his battered teammates.

            "Unlike my friends, I learned to fight on the streets."

            "That's…that's…"

            Robert couldn't find anything to say in return. But of course, it didn't really matter. The DHS team had won.__

(Whew. There goes the Art Of Fighting Team. I hope that this battle was an accurate representation of them. As always, all comments are welcome, as well as suggestions on the next battle. As the school term has reopened, my updates will slow down, but never fear, I'll write this story till the end. Also, I'll post the biographies as soon as I can. However, I'm thinking of skipping the fourth match, and going straight to the fifth…Sigh.)

            As always, please R&R. Thank you very much, and bye!


	7. Go South, young man!

**Chapter 7: Go South, young man!**

            It was snowing.

            Soft flakes of the white stuff spiraled down from the sky, coating the earth in a layer of icing. Christmas was fast approaching, and the city bustled with life. People flowed in and out of shops, repeating the cycle of buying and selling again and again.

            In the houses, warm lights shone, cheering all watchers with their glow.

            Already, there was talk of a massive celebration, one that would stretch for a week, to mark the end of a millennium. 

            Yes, this would be the best winter ever.

***********

            "Damn snow," Ryan mumbled, chilled hands barely holding on to his drink. His teeth chattered together, distorting his speech.

            He sneezed, feeling utterly miserable. 

            "The stupid bastard who runs this hotel isn't gonna crank the thermostat up!"

            "WE KNOW!!!"

            His teammates, all in similar states, chorused their assent.

            "So, maybe we should head back to the place we left, and get ourselves a nice, _fresh meal, and maybe call our parents or something."_

            "And tell them what? That we're pinned down in a slum area, due to the fact that we've been attacked by escapees from _The Matrix?" _

            "Andro, you've been watching _way too many movies."_

            "It doesn't change the fact that we WERE attacked. The moment we show our faces in public, we'll be hammered into the ground."

            "True."

            An atmosphere of gloom descended upon the group.

            Ryan set his cup down, and stood up.

"Tell you what. Why don't I head out, and get us something decent to eat?"

            "Yeah. It seems like a good idea."

            The boy turned, and began heading towards the door.

            "WAIT! We're coming with you."

            "Him? Why?"

            "The last time you went out, you ended up drinking. And I had to pay the bill!"

            Ryan's face flushed with sudden color. He remembered that all too well.

            "Okay. You win."

            Chan exchanged a smug smile with Andro. 

            "Told you he would crack."

            Grudgingly, the other boy handed over several coins.

***********

After four helpings of roast duck, Chan was suddenly glad that he had brought the rest of the team along.

There was simply no other way he was going to able to foot the bill.

Their shopping trip had taken them as far as the nearest restaurant…and ended right there. Ryan had shouted something to the effect of "Food…FOOD!" and ran for the door.

Well, there was a brief interval after that, where no planning whatsoever was possible. The rest of the team, realizing that if you couldn't beat 'em, join 'em, promptly dug in too.

            They had torn through a whole chicken, four slabs of pork, and ten bowls of rice at a speed that would put Iori Yagami to shame. Of course, considering they had been living on instant noodles for two weeks, the pace was actually almost understandable.

            Almost. 

            Chan set his empty bowl down, wiping his hands on a paper napkin. With a contended sigh, he leaned back in his chair, contended. For a moment, he actually didn't care about the bill.

            Instead, with his stomach full, his mind began to wander.

            "Hey, he's thinking funny thoughts again!"

            "Huh…I think I know what's going on in his head. Must be that girl again…"

            "Hey! It's nothing like that!"

            "Oh? _Then what, exactly, were you thinking about? You had that spaced-out look on your face…"_

            "Well, I was wondering about our final battle. We're coming up against the Hero Team, the winners of the previous year's tournament. They're supposed to have new members, though, and…"

            "Did any of you guys notice something? Our first battle was against a hardened mercenary squad. We kicked their asses. Then, there was that group of singers. MUCH more difficult, but we still won. And then…this weird team consisting of karate freaks and a bartender, and they almost killed us."

            "And your point is?"

            "The less formal training they actually had, the tougher they got to beat. Weird, isn't it?"

            "Yeah. Well, let's not worry 'bout that, okay?"

            "But…"

            "It ain't important."

            Ryan decided to seize the break in the conversation.

            "Waiter! A bottle over here, now!"

            Chan sighed, and buried his face in his hands.

***************

            In the shadows just outside the restaurant, a figure watched the boys eat, eyes gleaming in the dark. Something like fingers snapped. Something like a red flare of flame ignited. 

Around it, falling snow hissed, and evaporated. 

            "Huh. And we're supposed to face them? They're pathetic."

            This was delivered in a tone of scorn, and complete derision. The fire flared brighter, reflecting off a leather jacket. Somehow, the flame seemed to come _right from the hand of the figure, but of course, that was impossible._

            Behind the figure, something else moved, much bigger than the first.

            "Don't underestimate them, Dash-man. They've beaten everyone else." 

            K' smiled, red light glinting off his teeth. 

            "As have I, Maxima."

            "Huh. Your overconfidence is going to be the death of you, K'."

            There was another snap, and the flame flickered out. 

            "I'm never overconfident. I know I can't lose."

            Maxima decided to leave it as that. 

***************

            Somewhere else, at the north corner of the city, a massive merry-go-round was in operation. Bright lights flashed, and a cheerful tune played. The wooden horses were in constant motion, fusing into a single fluid flow. 

Next to the ride sat a statue of metal. Most passer-bys took a single look, and shrugged, dismissing it as just another entertainer, on his lunch break. Others snapped brief photos, then left.

For a long time, the statue sat there. It watched the ride complete a circuit again and again, unblinking eyes watching it all. Slowly, minutes slipped by, dragging on into hours.             

Finally, when a brown-haired girl disembarked from the ride, a massive smile across her face, the statue spoke. Or at least, a voice seemed to come from somewhere within it.

"Kula. Could we leave now? ***BEEP*** It has been several hours since we first arrived. And in all that time, you have repeated the same activity again and again."

Kula pouted. 

"Aww…So soon? Could we stay a bit longer, Candy? _Pleassseee__…"_

Candy remained silent for several seconds, as the request flowed through its electronic brain.

"No. Your superiors are already waiting for you. ***BZZT*** And you must prepare yourself for your destined purpose."

Kula blinked.

"What? Already? When?"

"Soon. I am not authorized to disclose any more details. We will leave now."

"Okay."

The two walked out of the amusement park, looking just like another happy family. Strangely enough, they seemed to vanish into the light snow, fading away, as though they had never been there.

***********

            "Damnit, Andro, you're heavy…"

            "Shut up. I can't believe a fat-ass like you said that…"

            The DHS Team, royally drunk, staggered down the road, heading back to their room in the slum areas. All were inebriated to one point or the other, some far worse than others.

            Ryan had drunk enough for all four, and was barely in fit state to walk. Chan supported Andro, who was busy making a valiant attempt to remain vertical, but failing miserably. Ogion was attempting to carry Ryan, who was already more than partially comatose.

            All the while, Ogion was grumbling, muttering something about how a well-aimed mental blast would end all their problems instantly. When Ryan began croaking to the tune of "In The End", Chan seriously considered homicide, or at least suicide.

            "That's the last time we let them touch alcohol…"

***********

That night…

            The attack came suddenly, but not entirely unexpectedly. After all, the boys had been operating on a razor's edge for a week now, one standing guard while the others slept. However, the fact that half of the team was still recovering from a really bad hangover lessened the effect somewhat.

            Still, when the windows exploded inwards, and smoke poured in from the door, the attackers didn't come in unchallenged.

            The bullets came first, sending red flashes of light cutting their way across those entering from the window. The soldiers who had taken the more conventional entrance were pelted by various items of furniture, darting under riot shields, and bludgeoning again and again.

            Then, lightning crackled from outside, as it began to rain. Random bolts jagged down, striking the small building. The roof exploded, causing the cold rain and snow to pour in.

            The soldiers fired back, sending gas grenades hurtling into the room. 

Choking noises emanated from the centre of the cloud, ending with a shout of, "They've got gas…***Cough***"

The second row, armed with gas masks and batons, promptly rolled in, expecting no resistance. What they got was a screaming, slashing terror, steel blades flashing in the light. Their comrades were too packed together to swing, and those behind didn't dare to fire, for fear of hitting their friends.

That was just the way Andro liked it. He moved through the ranks like a specter, hacking away at the oncoming tide. Very soon, he had cleared a respectful distance for himself, as he quickly incapacitated all around him. 

A freak wind blew, sending the cloying gas right back into the faces of the soldiers. Andro, his back to the wind, wasn't that badly affected. He staggered, shaking his head to clear the cobwebs away, and promptly leapt for his next victim.

            In the room, Ryan stood in a classic charging-up pose. One hand was glowing with blue fire, while the other was pointed at the doorway. He was tired, from calling down both lightning and wind, but sure as hell didn't intend to show it.

            Ogion was at the back of the room, with everything not nailed down circling him. He had thrown almost everything, except the kitchen sink (As a matter of fact, he WOULD have thrown the sink, but it was just too heavy.) 

            Chan crouched behind an overturned table, grimly reloading his handgun. World-Eater held its shield in front of all his friends, keeping them safe…for now.

            There was a brief standoff. The team couldn't fire through the protective shield, but neither could their opponents. Andro prowled near the front, keeping all at bay with his weapons.

            Then, one trooper, far larger than the rest, stepped forward.

            "Resistance is futile! Surrender, K'!!!"

            Chan dropped the shield for a moment, and planted a bullet through his helmet. The man toppled, smashing into the floor. His second-in-command swore, and yelled an order.

            "THAT'S IT!!! ATTACK!!! ATTACK NOW!!!"

            A massive firefight began.

************

            Outside of the chaos, K' and Maxima watched the spectacle with curious eyes. They couldn't actually see very much. All that was visible was smoke, and the occasional curious flare of light.

            The small room was being thoroughly trashed. The walls were cracking: Anyone could see that from the outside. More and more black-suited soldiers entered the house, and were promptly repulsed.

A small smile spread across K's face. The team was putting up an incredible fight. He could tell that much, at least. And, that was good. He always liked a challenge. However...They were slowly overwhelmed by the sheer weight of numbers being brought to bear against them.

            There had been three squads of extermination teams outside. One was already defeated, and sporadic battle still raged with the second. Very soon, the third would soon charge in. And that would be the end.

            K' realized that he didn't really enjoy that thought. It just seemed completely unfair, for a small, elite group to be brought down by an undisciplined mass. With a snap, he made his choice.

            "C'mon, Maxima," he said, donning his sunglasses. 

"We're going to help them."

************

            The place was in shambles.

            Everything breakable had been broken, and then some. All around the room, bodies lay sprawled like confetti, most in various stages of unconsciousness.

            Andro was still on his feet, clutching his broken ribs, and bleeding heavily from a boot to the head. 

Chan, mildly deaf from a concussion grenade, was attempting to drag his body behind the beds, the last source of cover. 

Ogion was popping pills with trembling hands, robe spattered with psychic frost, and burned with the backwash of pyrokinesis.      

            Ryan was clutching his club, a baton snatched from an opponent. His clothes were tattered and torn, and he had the look of a man who had seen horrible things.

            The noise had been incredible. It was a wonder that no one had alerted the police. (Considering the kind of neighborhood this was, maybe it wasn't so wondrous after all.)

            Outside, the last team was forming up for the final charge.

            This would be the final one, all knew. They simply didn't have the strength to repel the last squad. 

            "Get back…" Chan said to them all. "Just get outta here…There's nothing we can do…"

            "We fight…" Ogion croaked. "We fight…them…till we drop…"

             Psycho-thermic energy, amplified by his weary mind, spat from his hand, tracing a long arc of sizzling flame. He swept it along the front row, scorching some. He kept it going, till it turned from red to blue-white. The blood vessels in his throat and nose opened, and crimson fluid began to flow from there.

            Ryan, in a defiant pose, prepared for one last lightning bolt. 

            Chan prepared his Stand, and told it to lunge forward, swinging its massive sword two-handed.

            Andro spat, leaned against the wall, got up, and almost fell.

            "Just…Bring it!"

            It was a dramatic last stand, a real change-of-underwear moment. Fortunately, that was not to be. 

            "BUNKER BUSTER!!!"

            ***KA-BOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM***

            A massive flaming meteor crashed down from the sky, annihilating those directly in front of the door. Stone shrapnel flew everywhere, mowing too-eager soldiers down. They were the lucky ones. Those behind were about to have even worse problems.

            "HEAT DRIVE!!!"

            The carnage was incredible. It was as though a white-hot line had been cut through the ranks. The unfortunates in the way flew, burned, or collapsed like puppets with their strings cut.

            "VAPOUR CANNON!"

            Another massive explosion. More bodies took sudden flight.

            "Retreat!!! RETREAT!!!"

            There was the sound of sudden scampering of feet, as those who could run did so.

            The boys, unable to believe their good luck, simply stared.

            Slowly, a slim man, dressed in a leather biker jacket, began walking towards them. He had a head of white hair, and the red glove on his hand was glowing with a tongue of fire.

***************

            "My name is K'. It's good to meet you."

            Chan returned the proffered handshake to the best of his ability. 

            "Thank you. My name is Chan…and those are my…"

            Here, he briefly hesitated, wondering what to say. Finally, he decided to tell the truth.

            "Team. We're the DHS Team."

            K' raised an eyebrow, releasing his hand.

            "Oh? What a coincidence. We're the vaunted 'Hero Team'. May I ask why the NESTS extermination squads are after you?"

            Warning bells began to ring in Chan's head. 

The second, burly man came in from outside. Green light from his eyes scanned Chan up and down.

"Uh…Who's he?"

"He's Maxima. An old friend."

Suddenly, in a low, rumbling tone, Maxima spoke.

"The boy isn't what he seems, Dash-man. He bears a tracker on his right hand."

"The hell?" 

            Chan involuntarily glanced down at his right hand.

            "There's nothing on it."

            "It is extremely small. There does not seem to be any way to remove it, beside amputation."

            Chan didn't like where this was going.

            From the corner of his eye, he could see his friends move into strategic positions.

            "Leave my arm alone, okay?"

            "Hmm…Maybe we should kill them, and dump the bodies somewhere else."

            K's hand flared to fiery life once more, following his words.

            "Hey, cool it, Dash-man. We didn't come here to fight. Besides, they'll probably draw some pursuit away from us."

            "Fine."

            With that, the strange duo turned, and promptly left the area.

            "Chan, who were they?"

            "I dunno…But I do know we're going up against them in the finals."       

***********

            "Was that a good idea, Maxima?"

            "You know I don't like unnecessary killing."

            "But still…"

            "What's wrong, K'? Afraid that they'll beat us?"

            "No. Their leader feels…different."

            "Oh?"

            "There's something about him…something that's not quite right."

            Maxima stopped in his tracks.

            "You really think we should head back to finish them off?"

            "No. It's not important. Besides, did you hear what that soldier said when he saw them?"

            "Yeah. He said, 'Surrender, K-Dash.' Or something like that."

            "They think that those boys are us. Ain't that funny?"

            "I think I see your point."

***********

Airport, 7 a.m.

            Slowly, the plane taxied off the runway, and soared into the sky. 

            With a sigh of relief, Ryan leaned back in his seat. Finally, Tokyo was behind him. Finally, they wouldn't have to worry about any more weirdoes. No, they were going to a nice, normal city, where they would win the final match, and go home with the cash.

            Then, he felt a tapping on his shoulder. 

            "Excuse me. I need to get a drink. Please move."

            Ryan turned, wondering who the speaker was…

            And looked straight into the face of K'.

            For a long moment, they stared at each other, neither moving, barely breathing.

            Then, a long, horrible scream resounded through the air. Some shuddered, thinking it was a sign of impending doom. Others wondered whether it was simply engine trouble.

            No one would have thought it was Ryan.

(Right, this chapter marks the beginning of the end. Now, I'm sorry if it seems a little…predictable, but it's a necessary chapter. Once again, I'm glad for all your support and suggestions. Don't worry, as things will pick up very soon. Until then, as always, please R&R.) 


	8. The End Of The World: Part 1

**Chapter 8: The End Of The World**

          The city of Southtown, the traditional home of the KOF final.

            Usually, at this time of the day, people would be wandering the streets, just preparing for a hard day's work. Students would pack their bags, waving goodbye to their families, as they began to head to their schools.

            However, today was different. _Very_ different.

            Today, all work literally ceased. 

            Entire families piled into Southtown's central stadium, jostling for seats. Others huddled around their television sets, eyes fixated on the screen. Tense bets were made, and literally thousands of dollars flowed into-and _from _bank accounts.

            But why all this rush? Why would an entire city gather, with media coverage for half the world?

            The answer was simple: They had come here to watch eight people beat the living crap out of one another.

***********

            The DHS team stood in the stadium, shifting uncomfortably as they looked left and right. They had been called here, early in the morning before the fight, to receive a special briefing from the hosts of the KOF tournament. 

            On the other side of the building, K' and his team were going through basically the same thing. Both groups were extremely nervous, discomfited by the sure number of people out there. It was four hours before the proposed final, and already the seats were packed, row-to-row.

***********

            Somewhere else…

            In a dark, barely lit control room, a group of men were crouched over a screen of an entirely different sort. A massive, glowing map display dominated most of the room. It looked strangely like a crudely rendered two-dimensional map of the Southtown stadium, with eight dots of various colors speckled on it.

            The generic techno-geek operator, a teenager with a pimply face and oily hair, had a pair of headphones over his ears, as he listened to a voice only himself could hear.

            "The finals teams, Southtown central. Our target is K', and the leader of the other team. They're too far from the target area."

            Commander Heidern groaned, massaging the bridge of his nose.

            "Things aren't going as they planned. Incompetent idiots!"

            His second-in-command, Ling, weathered the storm easily, as a small smile spread across his face.

            "It's no big deal."

            Heidern stalked towards him, single eye ablaze with fury.

            "The hell you mean?"

            "I mean…that I've forseen this."

            Heidern shook his head. The man's enigmatic speech was beginning to frustrate him. 

            "What the f*ck are you babbling about?"

            Ling turned towards one of the many soldiers scrambling around the crowded command centre, completely ignoring Heidern.

            "Guide the teams to the lifts, will you? When you've done that, give the order to activate the generator."

            The soldier saluted, scurrying away from the inevitable confrontation as fast as he could. Heidern's fury was always awesome to behold, though dangerous for the faint-hearted.

            "Lift? Generator? NO ONE TOLD ME ABOUT THIS!!!!"

            Ling didn't even bother to look in Heidern's direction, though his knuckles turned white. 

            "We're working on a need to know basis, and you don't need to know. When the generator's charged, and the Zero Cannon's powered up, my mission will be complete."

            Something of his ominous tone began to sink in.

            "Did you say…Zero Cannon? An orbital weapon…But what the hell for? The purpose of the tournament was to capture K' and Maxima, to wrest the location of NESTS's base from them. We don't want to blow them apart!"

            An evil smile spread across Ling's face. There was a small _click, and a small pistol leapt into his hand. He pointed the weapon at Heidern._

            Before this, Heidern had always considered the Magnum a beautiful weapon, a miracle of power of design. Only now, being held up at the business end of end, did he realize how incredibly ugly it seemed.

            "Officially, that _was _the goal."

            "Officially? What foul plan is festering in your mind, you diseased megalomaniac?"

            Very calmly, Ling turned toward Heidern for the first time.

            "That's **_'Mister'_ megalomaniac to you. Guards, take him away."**

***********

            Chan was beginning to get more than slightly irritated. A series of flashing arrows had indicated the way, leading his team towards some unidentified destination, deeper and deeper underground. He couldn't even hear the roar of the crowd anymore.

            "Ryan. Did we go the wrong way?"

            "Don't ask me. Andro's the one who told us to follow the lights."

            "Hey! It just seemed like the right thing to do!"

            Chan sighed, as the two began bickering again. He seriously considered shooting one, maybe both with the handgun. Then, he discarded the thought. It would probably be a waste of ammo.

            Then, the lights began to go out. The arrows flickered slightly, and began dimming. 

            Chan swore.

            "SHIT! Guys! The lights're going out!"

            "Oh, good. We don't need to worry 'bout that, then."

            Chan began to ram his head against the wall.

***********

            INVASION INVASION INVASION...

            Bright red letters lit up the main monitor. Ling slammed his fist on the desk.

            "The images are gone!" 

"What? Fix it! NOW!"

            "Right away, sir!"

            Ling began to feel a sense of dread, accepting, for the first time, that something could go wrong.

***********

NESTS Base:

            Diana held the microphone closer to her mouth.

            "All systems go. Kula, you may begin. Smash Zero's plans. Remember, not a single one on either team should make it out alive."

            "Roger." The rest of the answer was lost in a hiss of static.

            Foxy leaned back, tilting the chair precariously.

            "So it begins. I can't help but worry about Kula, though. She doesn't seem…"

            "Yes?"

            "…happy."

            "She's going to kill eight people. You think she can be happy?"

            "No. It's a good thing Candy's there to supervise her." 

***********

            Soft, gentle snowflakes drifted down in a small corner of the passageway, quickly coalescing into the form of two people.

            Andro was the first one to react. He lunged, yelling a warning as he did. Both blades sliced forward, into the still-forming cloud…

            The blade struck air. Andro fell back, grasping his arm. His teeth chattered together, preventing him from even cursing out loud. 

            "ANDRO!"

            The others quickly ran over, wondering what had happened to their teammate.

            "…The…Cold…"

            Andro twitched, revealing his arm, coated from shoulder to wrist in a layer of solid ice.

            "What?"

            Chan yanked the Mage Cannon from its holster, aiming at the cloud of swirling snow. There was a _whoosh, _and sudden fog filled the room. Hair and clothes flapped in an invisible wind. When it faded, two figures stood in the room. The first one was

some kind of machine, metallic from head to toe. The other…

            "Kula?"

            The word came out as a whisper. 

            Ogion and Andro blinked.

            "Chan? You know this girl?"

            Ryan nodded. 

"Hey! That's the one we met!"

Kula showed no reaction whatsoever. Instead, she simply took a standard combat stance, gloved hand out, weight balanced on her feet like a dancer. Around her, her white hand began to writhe, and her eyes glowed bright red.

Next to her, Candy drew some strange weapon, whispering something to the girl. "They're calling us out, guys."

Ogion's voice was as flat and emotionless as ever. 

"Chan, pass me a pill."

The boy, still stunned, readily complied. Andro and Ryan fanned out to either side, assuming attack stances.

Ryan nudged Chan. 

"Snap out of it! We're in a combat situation here!"

"How do you know?"

As if to accentuate the point, Kula spoke, voice cold as death.

"By the authority of NESTS, I command you all to surrender. Failure to comply will result in your defeat, and subsequent deaths." A pause. "Did I do it right, Candy?"

The robot nodded. "Good, Kula. They should comply with our demands."

Chan didn't particularly know how to respond. The situation was far too weird. 

"What the hell? What the hell are you doing HERE!?"

Kula shook her head. 

"Sorry, Chan, but I can't tell you. Surrender to us, and follow. Or…My sisters told me to hit you people till you didn't get up again."

Chan quickly grasped the evolving situation. She was going to _kill _them. This sweet-faced innocent girl was going to kill them. Suddenly, everything began to fall into place. Privately, Chan cursed himself for being a fool, for even helping her nearly a month ago.

His smart mouth, honed by years of cutting commentary, took over.

"Everyone's been telling us to surrender, _lady."_

The word came out as a curse. Kula visibly stiffened, the blood draining from her face.

"If we didn't listen to them, why should we listen to you?"

It was merely bravado, and Chan knew it. He was still shaken, both from their sudden appearance, and the complex feelings bubbling up inside him.

Kula nodded, a mere inclination of her head. When she replied, she was calm and controlled, in perfect command of herself.

"So be it."

And the melee began.

***********

            "Look at them."

            The KOF manager strode back and forth, wiping sweat from his brow. He kept a cautious eye on the crowd, which was beginning to stir and mutter.

            "What do I do? The fighters are lost somewhere inside the building!"

            His co-host leaned back on his seat, idly paring his fingernails. 

            "Relax. There're still three hours to go. Calm down. The tournament host wanted to talk to the finals teams. Something about a special briefing."

            "Huh. They're probably trying to get one to throw the match. But just look out the window, man! The crowd's getting ugly!"

            "Let them. It'll only stir up the mood for later, when the fighting begins." 

The man pulled his cap over his face, appearing to be asleep. 

The manager sighed, casting one last look at the gathered crowd.

"I hope you're right."


	9. Kula: The fight continues

**Chapter 9: Kula (The fight continues)**

            Chan flung himself into an awkward roll, as ice fragments shattered on the wall behind him. He clutched his weapon like a lifeline, grimly clinging onto it.

            "WORLD-EATER: BITE!!!"

            A massive maw snapped at Kula, driving her back. The girl nimbly dodged the attack, blowing even more ice fragments at Chan.

            Frantically, Chan brought the gun up again, attempting to fire. 

            ***_Click***_

            "Oh, shit…"     

            Razor-sharp shards of ice shredded his skin, lacerating his already-tender flesh. 

            Chan cursed through gritted teeth, shivering as the cold chilled his body. 

            He couldn't take much more of this. Kula was taking his apart, slowly but surely. Her ice powers were draining any scrap of warmth left in his body, making it hard to move, or even think.

            To make matters even worse, the others were occupied by Candy, who was taking them on three-to-one. The cyborg was incredibly tough, and even worse, _fast. From the sounds of battle coming somewhere behind him, Chan's friends were worse off than he was._

            The boy tried to move, tried to reload his weapon. All he managed to do was to raise his hand weakly, like a man begging for salvation. Very slowly, Kula walked towards him, step by slow step. A sharp blade of ice glittered in her hand, as she raised it for the finishing blow.

            To his surprise, he could see that there were tears in her eyes. Randomly, he noted that Kula was still wearing his jacket, 

            "I'm…I'm…Sorry, Chan." Kula snuffled slightly. With her free hand, she wiped away her tears. This seemed totally incongruous, in the wake of the rest of her ice-cold demeanor. 

            "I didn't want to do this…I'm sorry…"

            Chan concentrated, drawing the corrupt power of World-eater to himself. 

            "As am I."

            "Huh?"

            "ANDRO! NOW!"

            Kula spun like a dancer, attempting to ward off the attack she thought was coming. A shield of ice spread around her body, raised to block.

            Except it never came. Andro was still battling Candy, several meters away. The real attack would come from behind.

            Chan flicked his hand up, releasing an orb of force. Normally, he didn't do this, as it drained heavily on the reserves of both Stand and wielder. Usually, Chan would channel the force into his handgun, releasing it in the form of sizzling energy bolts. 

            But this wasn't a normal situation. He was exhausted, out of ammunition,           and nearly cut to pieces. No, this damn well wasn't a normal situation.

            The blast struck Kula on her back, blasting her backwards like a shot from a cannon. The air rippled in the wake of the force bolt, as the universe rushed in to fill the temporary hole.

            The girl fell on her…Well, females never fall on their back, do they?

            The ice knife clattered from her hand, melting as it hit the ground.

            Chan wondered if the blast had been powerful enough. He had put almost everything he had left into the bolt, and was left a shaking, weak wreck as always. World-Eater had vanished, disrupted from the energy drained from in.

            Not for the first time in his life, Chan was completely alone. Sure, his team was less than thirty feet away from him. But that might as well have been three hundred, for all it mattered.

            Very slowly, Kula begin to stir, picking herself up from the ground. She moved with a pained gait that told of broken bones.

            With a deadly calm, Chan began to load the Mage Cannon with a new kind of rounds. Rather than his usual self-made quartz bullets, he opened a small packet, and began to slid metal-jacketed round after metal-jacketed into each chamber. His body was weak, but his mind was clearer, far clearer than it had been for a long time. 

What he was about to do had to be done. How he felt about it had utterly no bearing upon the current situation. 

            Kula, for her part, conscious mind completely submerged in combat routines, formed a long, thin blade of ice on her arm, as she prepared to deal the move known simply as "Claw Bytes". A dim red light began to flicker in her eyes.

*************

            Ogion saw this all, of course.

            He felt a faint sense of curiosity at the matter, wondering who would manage to kill the other. To his surprise, he was actually hoping that Chan would succeed. That was strange, as Ogion usually didn't care about anything.

            He was busy using his abilities to slow Kula's cyborg down, bringing its speed down to a level where Andro and Ryan could actually battle it. The thing was so fast, that it took almost all his mental might to hold it.

            That irritated him.

            A massive chunk of rock took flight, battering at Candy, who was in the process of attempting to wrench Ryan's arm off. Candy saw the projectile coming, and promptly released Ryan, striking at the object.

            Andro dove down from behind, cutting a nasty slash across the robot's armored back. He was met by a spinning backfist that snapped his head back, shattering his nose. The tough fighter shook his head to clear the cobwebs, then dove straight back into the fray. Both blades dug in, as he attempted to wrench the metal casing off. A metal hand slapped across his face, shaking but not dislodging him. 

            Ryan flung streamer after streamer of high-pressure water at his tormentor, managing as best as he could with one arm. The other was far too sore to be used anytime in the current encounter. He stayed a safe distance away, letting Andro handle the close-in fighting. 

            Ogion poured even more psychic energy into his binding. He had a nasty feeling that it wasn't working as well as it should.

            Then, on the spur of the moment, the sentence came to him. He didn't know why he said it, but it seemed like a good idea.

            "Ryan, help Chan," he ordered, sweat begin to stream down his face. His words came out in short, barked sentences. 

            "The girl is going to kill him. Or he'll kill her. Either way, it'll be bad. Stop them."

            "Roger."

            Ryan staggered off, already summoning up the powers of water to aid him.

            Ogion refocused his attention. His part in _that little drama was over, at least._

*************

            Chan loaded the last shell in, closing his weapon for the last time.

            Slowly, he swung the weapon upwards, bringing it in line with the white motif at the back of the jacket. The thing made a perfect target, though it was beginning to shift position, as Kula turned.

            The boy carefully brought the weapon up into a perfect position, both hands wrapped around the ornate grip. There would only be time for one shot, and it had to be perfect. 

            It was a race, to see who would move faster. Kula had the advantage of being able to cover the distance in an incredibly short time. Chan was still struggling to remain on target.

*************

            The monitor flashed bright red, painting the words "INVASION" on Ling's face. He 

            "Any luck?"

            INVASION INVASION INVASION

            "No. We can't get anything. For all intents and purposes, both teams are completely lost to us for the time being."

            "Damn. Keep on working on it!"

            A yell of success came up from another station.

            "We have K's team back online! The cameras in their area work!"

            "Good. Send them to elevator. Keep me informed on any further developments."

            Ling headed off, drawing his portable communicator from a pocket.

            "Master Zero? One team will be heading your way soon."

            A hiss of static. Then, a single voice.

            "Excellent." 

*************

            K' was getting pissed.

            Five minutes ago, his entire team had been wandering through the utterly dark maze, completely lost.

            Then, right underneath their feet, the floor had began to sink at an extreme speed, sending them all rapidly descending down into the darkness. The lights had flashed on, revealing the interior of a four-by-five meter elevator, or what used to be a slab of the floor.

            How unoriginal.

            The LAST year's tournament had also done the same thing, with even more style. This elevator was a piece of junk, making suspicious squeaking noises as it went.

            Around him, his team remained silent, pretty much keeping their thoughts to themselves. There was a green glow from Maxima's corner, as the man scanned the area around him, looking for a way out.

            Ramon shadowboxed, launching short, snapping attacks at the empty air. The Mexican was extremely tense, and was relieving his stress in the only way he could.

            Vanessa adjusted her outfit, tightening her gloves as necessary. She leaned against the elevator wall, waiting.

            Then, there was a _clickWHIRcrunch_, and the elevator lurched to a stop, throwing all concerned off-balance.

            K' stared off into the featureless darkness, straining to see exactly what was coming. Nothing. 

            Then, in the distance, he heard the slow, steady sound of footsteps, one after another. With a flick of his wrist, he flung a fireball into the darkness, temporarily illuminating everything. 

What he saw took his breath away.

The man was _huge. _

On the average, he was almost Maxima's height, with a fluidity of movement that rivaled even Vanessa's. Even worse, the clinking noises he made as he walked were the sounds of…_blades._

A sick feeling of fear began to fill K' stomach.

Summoning up all his defiance, he yelled, "The hell are you?" into the distance.

A deep, gravelly voice, like that of a slamming coffin lid, replied, as its owner stepped into the firelight.

"I am…Zero."

Vanessa started visibly, stunned. 

"Commander? Unbelievable!  You're the...!!!" 

Maxima grunted.

"Hmm…He looks just like the leader of last year's extermination squad. You know, Ling."

K' nodded. He remembered Ling all too well. But somehow, this Zero wasn't like him. The differences were subtle, but noticeable.

"You're not Ling. Where is he? We need to catch up on old times."

Zero chortled heartily, face twisting into an utterly spastic and cruel grin.

"A master of disguise, I am.  I masqueraded as Ling, and then substituted a clone.  Vanessa and Seth were duped by my little freak of genetics!  Neutralizing all of you obstacles was the fastest way to realize my plan."

Totally unimpressed, the team stared at him.

"And that is?"

"It was my way to obtain... The Zero Cannon!"

Silence.

"What?"

"A space-based weapon to use against NESTS.  I held KoF to summon you muscleheads here... and fire the cannon, with all your help, of course.  I owe it all to you, Vanessa."

Ramon, of all people, took this time to be brave.

"This is getting boring, amigo. Let's just skip to the part where we fight, okay?"

Zero's eyes flashed with anger.

"But…but…I'm not finished yet!"

K' went into classic street-fighting position, quickly followed by the other two.

"Ramon's right, **_f*cker._****We're just gonna kick your ass. Now."**

A four-on-very-large-one battle began.

*************

He wasn't going to make it.

Even as the weapon came up, Chan knew it wasn't going to work. He simply wasn't moving fast enough. In a blur of motion, Kula spun, running towards him in a full-out sprint.

Then, with the impact of a small bomb, the ground exploded, sending the girl hurtling away.

"RYAN!"

The odds had suddenly changed. Ryan stood on a nearby pile of rubble, water droplets swirling around him in a random dance. He had one arm raised, water swirling around the raised appendage.

Kula rolled back to her feet, turning to face the new opponent.

"Hey! That's breaking the KOF rules!"

The phrase was so funny that both chuckled.

            "This isn't KOF. Not anymore. Ryan?"

            "Yeah?"

            "Remember what I said 'bout crossing the blasts?"

            "Yep. You told me not to cross them."

            Kula, not liking where this was going, hurriedly began to create an inch-thick shield of ice.

            "Cross the blasts."

            "What? You told me it'll kill us!"

            "…I lied."

            "Remind me to hurt you later."

            "OMEGA FLARE!"

            "TSUNAMI!"

            Both fired at the same time, sending a massive wave of red-and-blue energy crashing into shield. The attacks combined into a pseudo-fireball that would probably punch through a mountain. Incredibly, for several long moments, the ice held, sending power arching off it, melting the walls like wax.

            It shattered. 

*************

By now, the crowd was getting truly angry. 

Projectiles were hurled at the announcer's booth, as angry fans decided to take matters into their own hands.

It was two hours before the fights actually started, and there wasn't a peep of any of the fighters. Normally, they would be grandstanding for the crowd, or making a small speech or something. 

Instead, there was nothing but an ominous silence.

The manager began making plans for his hasty evacuation. 

Somewhere in the distance, a geyser of power blasted upward, sending various assorted debris flying. 

Obviously assuming that it was some kind of publicity stunt, people began to cheer, watching the fantastic swirling light show. 

His ass safe for now, the manager headed back to his seat.

Only close observers would notice his lips moving in a silent prayer.

*************

Andro saw the blinding light, even as he struggled to subdue the cyborg. 

Damn Ryan and Chan. They got super powers, while he was stuck with his blades, and several old ninjustu tricks.

Hopefully, they would be enough.

Candy broke out of his grasp, preparing to tear him apart. Many, many, _many _scratches and dents lined the thing's metal skin, but there was utterly no sign of internal damage. For what seemed like the thousandth time, he drew on his internal energy, summoning up the will to continue.

From the side, Ogion launched a burst of pyrokinetic flame, searing away even more of the metallic skin. Candy reached down, pulling a sizeable chunk of fallen ceiling from the ground.

Like a baseball player, she flung it, sending Ogion to the ground with a loud _thud._

Andro winced.

Candy turned towards him, metal fists clenched in a fear-inspiring move.

"Prepare to surrender your pitiful flesh."

For his own part, Andro braced for the impact. 

"Embrace oblivion. ARMY OF ONE!!!"

Suddenly, there were eight Andros, all kicking, punching and slashing away with their blades. Completely unimpressed, Candy launched a spinning kick, slamming all of them back together. 

A single, sheepish-looking Andro was the only one left, one who was rapidly retreating.

"***WHIR*** Is that all you have?"

"No. I bet you can't do this."

And he ran away.

*************

Chan slumped, completely exhausted. 

Unnoticed, the Mage Cannon slipped to the ground, metal frame smoking and sizzling. There was a grip-shaped burn mark on Chan's arm, but he barely noticed it.

Ryan wasn't much better. Blood dripped from his nose, and he let off the occasional wet cough. The water droplets were gone, evaporated by the force of the blast. 

Lying in a crater about four meters wide lay Kula. She was strangely unscarred by the impact, though her outfit was scorched and singed.

Chan raised a questioning eyebrow at Ryan.

The boy shrugged, pointing to the fog that hung in the air.

"Ice shield. Stopped most of the impact, probably. I _told you, water doesn't really mix well with energy."_

"Well, it doesn't matter now. C'mon. Let's help the others."

The 'others' were already actively seeking help. Andro ran past, screaming at the top of his voice. Right behind him came that robotic thing, mechanical fists opening and closing

Ryan blinked. This was the first time he had ever seen the psychopathic assassin truly afraid. 

            All prepared a last, devastating attack.

            As it turned out, it wasn't necessary.

            Candy calmly strode right past them, reaching down to scoop up Kula's body. A calm, crackly voice promptly emanated from the speakers.

            "You have won. Kula and I will depart from this area. The tournament organizer awaits your group beneath. Be careful. The place is under surveillance."

            With that, it began to fade away, shrinking to a two-dimensional image, then blowing away like a leaf in the wind…

            "Hey, wait!"

            But they were already gone.

*************

            "System restored."

            Ling turned, facing the large screen once more. 

            He didn't like what he saw. 

            The place on the monitor looked like that of a war zone. Everything breakable had been broken, and a large hole now adorned the ceiling, revealing blue sky above. _That got Ling worried. Why? _

            They were about four stories underground.

            "What was the cause?"

            "System appears to have been hacked.  Only the image bank is intact."

            Inspection of said image revealed several shots of a striking, white-haired girl, clad in a tight red bodysuit, and a blue jacket.

            "So…That's the Anti-K."

            "Huh? I beg your pardon, sir?"

            "Nothing…Just mumbling. Send them the way of the first."

*************

            "Hey, look! The light's back on!"

            "So?"

            They were all tired, and injured. Nothing serious, of course, but some wounds would probably have a severe effect on their skills.

            "Hmm. Looks like the robot was right about us being surveyed. Right, Chan? Right?"

            "Leave him alone. He's still a little out of it."

            "Hell yeah. There's only one thing I'll like to tell those bastards watching us…"

            Andro gave the ceiling the finger.

            Sure, it was immature, but he somehow felt much better. 

*************

            Ling's lips compressed into a thin line at the sight.

            "Such vulgarity."

*************

            Diana and Foxy stared tensely at the teleporter, watching as Kula's broken body shimmered into view. Candy held the girl with both hands, gently placing her on a nearby table.

            Diana gasped.

            "They did THIS to her? They actually did THIS to our little sister?"

            Foxy snorted.

            "I told you to send her after the other team, first. They, at least, would have compunctions against nearly crippling a girl."

            Candy tilted its head, voice still the flat mechanical monotone.

            "I beg to differ. The team did not really inflict any damage personally. Two of them combined forces, launching a ray with a magnitude I have never detected before. It is estimated to be a thousandth of the power of the Zero Cannon."

            Foxy struck the hard metal console with her fist, inflicting a heavy dent.

            "Damn! That's enough to take out a battalion. They're just _kids, for christsakes. Ignorant kids who don't know squat about what they're involved in. How in hell did they manage to defeat our little sister? She's supposed to be the answer to K', the penultimate biological weapon."_

            Diana set about tending to Kula's numerous injuries, talking as she did. 

            "That's not really important. Zero will probably kill them, anyway. There's no way all that power came without a price."

            She winced, as a particularly nasty puncture was revealed.

            "You said that one of them, at least, cared for her. Looks like you guessed wrong."

            Foxy ignored the comment, returning to her usual business-like manner.

            "Candy, I need you to replay the combat logs. Load them into the main computer for later reference. It looks like there's no one to deal with the Zero Cannon, considering the state Kula's in."

            "Acknowledged."

            "Diana, finish patching Kula up, and prepare to roll. We'll have to go in by ourselves."

            Diana nodded, already beginning to reach for the antiseptic and bandages.

*************

            The boys made their way to the elevator, taking their time. 

            If someone wanted to herd them, they were just going to have to wait. 

            Each preoccupied with his own thoughts, no one spoke, as the lift began to descend, carrying them ever downwards into the lurid darkness.

            Chan obsessively checked and re-checked his handgun, the only true equipment he possessed. Bryan sat in a meditation pose, drawing on the inner void for strength. The air around him shimmered slightly.

            Andro honed his blades once more, the razor-edges gleaming even in the dim light. Ryan drew what moisture he could from the cool air, wrapping himself in a cloak of dancing water droplets.

            After what seemed like an eternity, the elevator shuddered to a stop.

            A grim smile on his face, Chan looked up at his friends.

            "Ready?"

            Three nods.

            "Good. Let's go get meet the big guy."

            Then, they leapt from the dubious safety of the lift, and began to run.

(Whew. The recent chapters haven't been that good, and I haven't upgraded recently. Still, I'm near the end of this epic storyline. As always, your reviews and feedback are always welcome.)


	10. From Zero To Oblivion

From Zero To Oblivion

            In his dark chamber, Zero sat, and waited.

            Far away, he could hear the sound of running footsteps, one after another. A slow, grim smile spread across his mustached face.

            They were almost here. He would not have to wait much longer. 

            The footsteps slowed, then stopped.

            A muffled gasp resounded in the air, as someone was overcome by the sheer ruin of the chamber. 

            Zero stood up, and went to greet his guests.

************

            The place was a mess.

            "Jesus…Who could have done this?"

            Massive holes had been blown in the walls. Small fires burned, apparently fuelled by solid rock. The ground was littered with pieces of metal, which had evidently been torn off from somewhere and used as clubs.

            Chan took a step forward…And tripped, foot slipping on a plastic object. Cursing, he leaned down, to take a better look at it.

            It was a pair of sunglasses, neatly broken in two at the bridge. One lens had a spiderweb crack, and the other was a distant memory.

            "Now what?"

            Ogion's voice jolted Chan from his reverie. The rest of the group had moved in, ready for one final fight.

            "I…I don't know. We wait, I guess."

            They didn't need to. A sardonic voice sounded in the distance, beyond the flames.

            "Well, well. Looks like the prodigal sons have returned home."

            "Andro, Ryan, circle around to flank him. I'll stay here with Ogion, and keep him talking."

            Chan kept his voice low, fearful of alerting whoever was out that. Like twin shadows, the two nodded, slipping away in near-silence.

            "Why, is that a gun I see? Nice taste, boy. But children shouldn't play with the weapons of adults."

            Faint laughter resounded, echoing hollowly in the room.

            "You're the tournament host, aren't you? Move into the light. We can't see you."

            To his surprise, the mysterious speaker complied, revealing a massive, mustached man, wearing a...skirt? Razor-sharp knives gleamed in the dim firelight, producing a distinctive clinking noise.

            "I am…Zero."

            "What have you done with the others?"

            The question caught Zero off guard. With a wave of his hand, he brushed it off.

            "It does not matter. They are alive, I assure you. However, they no longer factor into the equation. YOU do."

            From the corner of his eye, Chan saw Andro and Ryan moving into attack position. They just needed a bit more time…

            "Exactly what do you want from us?"

            "Want? 'Want' is a worthless, petty term. I don't 'WANT' anything from you. The question is, what do I need?"

            Zero stressed the last point like some kind of psychiatrist. He accentuated the point with a dramatic swirl of his dress/cape.

            "Okay, okay. So what do you need?"

            "I need power. I need the energy that can be received only by fighting. So…Show me the power of DHS! SHOW ME THE FRUIT OF YOUR PATHETIC LIVES!!!!"

            The volume increased with each world, finally becoming a full-out roar.

            Chan nodded slightly. 

            "I see. You want a fight? You're gonna get one. Andro, Ryan? Take him."

            And the final battle of the KOF tournament commenced.

************

            Like a stealth bomber with an inferiority complex, Andro came down from above. Both blades were out, prepared for the final, decapitating stroke.

            Ryan leapt in from behind, booted foot aimed at Zero's head. A massive propeller of water churned at the end of the kick, ready to chew Zero to bits.

            Chan moved in, handgun thundering. Quartz bullets streaked through the darkness, red lights tracing their way towards his opponent. World-Eater rushed, discarding shield in favor of a massive overhand sword slash.

            From somewhere to his side, a ball of bubbling green flame screamed ahead, followed by the largest shards of metal and rock Ogion could find.

            Zero was being attacked from all sides, in a well-coordinated assault. This was a team attack, involving timing, strength, and simple low cunning. And the boys excelled at the last point.

            Zero half-turned, cloak/dress whirling out, and turning World-Eater's sword aside with its multiple edges. His turn became a full spin, and all concerned tried to lurch back, in an attempt to avoid the lethal hem of the blade-dress.

            Ryan failed to dodge in time, and was sucked in, lacerated, and flung aside. The projectiles were simply spat right back, causing Chan to duck for cover, as wild explosion resounded behind him. Andro was the only one who scored a successful hit, which was ignored in Zero's spinning frenzy.

            Everyone, including the Stand, backed away. Approaching Zero was like coming near a furnace, with a blender somewhere in the flames.

             "Alright, change in the plan."

            "There was a plan? I thought we just beat on him till he cried for mercy!"

            Ryan shot a glare at Andro.

            Chan pointed at the whirlwind of steel, ignoring the other two.

            "He's guarding everywhere except his feet! Guys, hit him there!"

            "Yessir!"

            Ryan dropped to the ground, bringing a foot around in an awkward but powerful sweeping kick. Unceremoniously, Zero staggered and almost fell, feet suddenly knocked from under him.

            "RUSH MARINE!!!"

            Andro tackled Zero, grabbing him from behind. Blades dug into the man's back, as the boy fought for a grip. 

            "NOW!"

            Chan flung himself forward in a rushing punch. Ogion aimed a savage lance of mental fury at Zero. Ryan performed an aerial attack, blasting downwards, with a comet-trail of water behind him.

            Then, a second sun arose in the chamber, as a sphere of painfully bright light burst into existence. The DHS team flew.

            Chan hit the ground next to Alistair, both smoking wrecks. Somewhere else, Ogion negotiated his own contract with gravity, crumpling and not rising. 

            Incredibly, Ryan had been relatively untouched, though his shield had instantly disintegrated upon impact. He took on Zero one-on-one, fists and feet striking away in a brave but futile effort. Even from the start, it was hopeless. Ryan couldn't defeat Zero with his elemental powers. Without the protection water gave him, he had no chance whatsoever.

            Zero blocked one of Ryan's kicks, knocked aside a palm strike, and swept his entire cloak across Ryan's stomach. Like a puppet with strings cut, Ryan went down.

            With a cruel smile on his face, Zero aimed a kick at Ryan, intending to crush the boy's windpipe…

            ***BLAM***

            A bullet caught Zero's foot, blowing right through.

            Zero swore, pivoting on his undamaged leg to face his attacker. 

            Chan had managed to rise to one knee, with a white-knuckled grip on his revolver. Smoke rose in a faint trail from the barrel, attesting to the live ammunition Chan was finally using. There was a kind of determination in his face. Behind him, World-Eater mimicked the pose.

            "So…The puppy has grown teeth."

            Zero concentrated, isolating the pain of his injured foot, ignoring it the way he ignored the myriad of other minor wounds across his body.  

            "But not soon enough!"

            A shadow image of Zero blurred forward, blasting through Chan's defenses. Fists and cape swipes promptly assaulted the boy, sending crimson blood flowing once more.

            Then, a massive shockwave of wind blasted by, blowing Zero away. Ogion got up, summoning another wave. With all his power, he flung it at Zero again…

            The wave split, sending each end passing around the man. Both waves roared by, impacting once more against the thoroughly-abused wall. 

            With a smirk, Zero climbed to his feet, dress flapping around his feet.

            "You can't defeat me. You were foolish to even think you could. HAKURA MESSHOU!!!"

            The lights momentarily went out. A black hole had formed, drawing everything into itself. Massive spheres of energy blasted out. And the running began.

            Chan flung up the Aegis, enlarging it to cover himself. However, the massive shield cracked, as blast after blast of energy rammed home. Gritting his teeth in agony, Chan planted his feet, draining power from his Stand to power his shield. 

            Ryan weaved like a maniac, somehow managing to dodge the bursts aimed his way. A well-aimed one blew his feet away, sending him sprawling on the floor. Ducking behind the largest piece of rubble he could find, he prayed for deliverance.

            Andro teleported back and forth, warping away just as his previous position was annihilated. But the moment his internal energy ran out, he was left stranded in the open, with no choice but to block and take the hits.

            Ogion resorted to point-defense, shoving away each incoming blast with the force of his mind. Everything breakable was broken for the second time, as projectiles flew back and forth. 

            Finally, the blasts trickled away, giving a last few coughs of energy. Cautiously, the team peeked out from behind their hiding places, wondering what the new development brought. 

            The entire room was filled with dust, and several of the massive pillars were mere memories now. Somewhere in the center of the room, a human shape formed from the smoke…

 "THAT'S IT! I'VE HAD ENOUGH!!!"

Chan raised and aimed the Mage Cannon, as World-Eater dropped its shield, to reveal a HUGE chaingun of its own. Smaller copies peeked out from behind it, each wielding similar ordnance. As one, the horde of Stands aimed, fingers tightening on triggers.

Andro's eyes went wide. 

Ryan watched Chan begin to glow purple, in the aura that preceded his ultimate attack.

"Um…We might like to get some cover."

Paling, Andro and Ogion nodded, diving for cover as Chan went Postal. Over the high whine of the chaingun, the rattle of bullets, *thwumping* of grenades, and the hideous screaming of miniature rockets, they could hear Chan's maniacal voice.

"DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE!"

            When the firing stopped, the only thing in the distance was a small figure, utterly shot through. It staggered one more step, and collapsed.

*************

            "It's over, isn't it?"

            "Yes. Zero's dead. Whatever he was planning will never come to pass."

            "All that matters now is finding a way out. The entrance was sealed. We'll have to take the hole at the end of the room."

            "Sounds good to me."

            Slowly, the team began to limp towards the end of the room, heading towards the promising light of the exit. Ogion supported Ryan, who could barely walk on his own. Andro, scorning aid, walked tall and proud, leading the way. Chan, so very tired, holstered his weapon, placing a hand on the wall to guide his path.

            To their credit, they almost made it.

            Halfway through the chamber, there was a brief glow, and the humming of machinery began.

            "What? What the…"

            Light. Painfully bright light filled the room.

            Like the voice of the Almighty, a sound came from somewhere within there. The voice of Zero.

            "You lose."

            Blinking, Chan recovered enough to see that Zero stood once more, whole and healthy. In his hand, he held a remote, filled with an incredibly confusing amount of buttons and levers. Zero's finger hovered above a certain massive, red one…

            "When I press this button, all your energy goes to the Zero Cannon. All the punches, all the psychic assaults, all the lightning, and the many, many bullets. All the internal energy that powered them will become the fuel, for the complete and utter destruction of the world as you know it. Special thanks to Chan, for kindly providing a good third of the damage."

            As one, all stared at Chan, who was trying to bury his head in the hard floor.

            "You've gotta be kidding!"

            Andro crouched into fighting stance once more, only the slow speed of his usually smooth and blurring motions betraying his exhaustion. Ryan shoved himself upright, hand out and pointed. Faintly, tiny electric sparks danced at the end. Chan aimed to the best of his ability, hand shaking with fatigue. Ogion simply shrugged, summoning a halo of green fire.

            "That's weird…I thought you were resting in pieces all the way over there."

            Zero shook his head.

            "Ha! I'm prepared for EVERY contingency. That was just a taste of my genius. But before you die…You should know exactly what has been happening. The entire tournament was a front, to gain enough energy to power my orbital weaponry systems. Rage and hatred are the fuel of the Zero Cannon, and there is nowhere else I can get a finer supply. Now, PERISH IN THE LIGHT OF A NEW WORaack!"

            ***KA-BLAM***

            Chan blasted the control from his hand with a well-aimed shot, as everyone exploded into sudden motion.

            "THE CONTROL! GET THE CONTROL!"

            Andro performed a football slide, knocking the remote even further from Zero's reach. With a snarl, Zero brought his fist down on the fighter's head, knocking him to the ground. Quickly recovering, Andro sliced upwards, placing a high stroke that actually slashed Zero's face.

            "Bastard!" 

            Zero swept his cape under Andro's guard, inflicting a myriad of small cuts and slashes. The boy shrugged it off like a bean bag, and slammed his forehead into Zero's, bringing his leg up between the man's legs.

            Cursing and clutching himself, Zero staggered back, struggling to remain conscious against the wave of pain rolling up from his injured loins. Behind him, Ogion nabbed the control, staring at the complex series of buttons and levers.

            "Turn everything off!"

            "Got it!"

            The psychic reached out, and began to hit switches at random. Around them, a small quake rocked the area. Something far away shattered. 

            "Not that! You'll bring the entire place down!"

            Zero recovered from the horrible agony, kicking Andro away. He turned towards Ogion, intent on tearing him to pieces with his bare hands. Gulping, Ogion tossed the control to the nearest person: Ryan. Snarling, Zero took a step in the direction of the rapidly-retreating fighter…

            ….And was met with an incredible punch to the face. World-Eater threw an impressive follow-up combo: Right jab, left uppercut, right haymaker, double palm strike. Just to irritate Zero further, Chan, in a rare moment of bravery, swung at the back of his head with the handle of the Mage Cannon.

            Zero ducked, dodging the strike to the back of the head. He took several punches, which didn't help his mood much. There were too many distractions, all obstructing him from his main goal, the reclamation of his remote control.

The man promptly eliminated the biggest obstacle, by elbowing Chan in the gut, and snapping a backhand into his face. Glasses shattered upon impact, knocking Chan backwards. He wasn't seriously injured, but he would have to wait for the stars to go away before he was any use in battle.

Then, he turned to the three still standing. 

"Give…It…Back."

            Ryan smirked, clutching his prize tighter.

            "Make me."

            He would soon regret his words, as Zero charged the group, maddened beyond reason.

            The following fight, save for the flying blades and psychic effects, could have made the Top Ten Old West Barbrawls' Hall of Fame. Zero suplexed Andro completely *through* the floor at one point, after which Ryan snatched up the biggest chunk of it and tried to flatten the man. 

What remained of the wall was completely shattered, as Ogion mentally shoved Zero into them, then got slammed into the remaining half when he tried to follow up. A side slam drove Ryan's head *into* the wall, but Andro smashed Zero right through, before he could take advantage of Ryan's momentary immobility. 

Andro briefly dueled Zero with blades, only to have them chipped beyond use, and going back-hand-to-hand. Chan, rejoining the fight, sent Zero flying into his seat with a mighty gut-punch from World-Eater, only to have a shard broken over his head when he closed in, and hurled away in a patented Nage throw while he tried to clear the dust from his eyes. Ryan was bowled over, as he tried to interfere, his dropkick met by a blast of some kind of force.

Not bothering to get up, Ryan threw out a sweep, but Zero simply rolled back away from it. 

As soon as Ryan's leg was retracted, he pulled into a crouch. 

As soon as Zero's feet touched ground out of the roll, he leaped in. Zero was leading with a kick that would slam Ryan's face back into the floor, reducing the small team by a weakened Adept.

Zero's foot was inches away from Ryan's face; at that moment, Andro, who had long since recovered, slammed into the KOF sponsor with the Army of One. The warrior's clones followed his every motion, slashing and kicking repeatedly. Zero tried to fight back, but the real Andro had been lost somewhere along the way, allowing a clone to get in his attacks instead.

When the attack ended, an exhausted Andro slumped to the ground, too tired to even stand. 

It was worth noting that Zero's super bar was fully charged, what with the energy siphon under his clothes, and the countless hits already blocked.

The fact that Ryan had stolen his control didn't help matters much.

He performed the Hakura Messhou three times, raining starry death down onto them all. The entire team blocked and dove, but the inherent cheapness of the move soon caught up with them. More that half of the volley had aimed at Ryan, blowing the fight out of him. The others tried to head back, but they didn't make it in time, still recovering from concussions.

Very slowly, Zero walked over to Ryan, who was attempting to grab the control that had fallen right in front of him. It was singed, but undamaged. Ryan's body had taken most of the impacts. His belly wound had reopened, leaving him in a massive pool of his own blood.

Zero reached down, brushing aside Ryan's pitiful attempt at retaliation, and snatched the control back.

He cleared his throat, hitting the big red button as he did.

"There. Now, the Zero Cannon is turning towards Southtown. On this monitor…"

Zero pressed another button. A screen flickered into life, revealing the view of…deep space? A massive station floated in the background. It seemed like a massive cannon, aimed towards the unsuspecting earth…

"Behold!!!"

A ray stabbed down, a mile-thick column of destruction. 

************

The citizens of Southtown never even knew what was coming.

One second, they were seated in comfortable seats, waiting for the fighters to be brought out to them. The next, they were dead. 

A single blast struck the stadium, annihilating everything. The entire area simply ceased to exist, component molecules spread to the four winds. Unnoticed, camera feeds flared, and blacked out, leaving the thousands watching television wondering what had happened.

They didn't have to wait long. The ray spread out, in a clean, rapidly expanding circle of death. It was perfectly clear, like ice spreading across water. Everything it touched crumbled, perishing in the painful brilliance.

Everyone in the first kilometer perished, flash-fried in the wake of a second sun. The ground itself rippled, sending buildings and vehicles toppling in the path. Secondary explosions went off everywhere, and fires started in the heat wave that promptly followed. People screamed, ran, died. Some were so crushed in the panicked scramble that followed, that their corpses were carried for several meters, before sliding to the ground.

It was as though someone had overturned an anthill. There was no cohesion, no leader of the fleeing mob. All concerned simply ran, in an attempt to get away, as far and as fast as possible.

************

"…You bastard…"

"…The entire city…"

"…That's really bad shit…"

"Do you even know what you've done?"

"Yep," Zero said, a slow, relaxed grin spreading across his face. "I fulfilled my lifelong ambition. I nuked Southtown."

They didn't know how to answer that. All they had seen was the massive ray stabbing down, with no indication of its effects on the city beneath. But it had to be bad, didn't it?

"Now, where was I? Ah. I'll kill your pathetic group of fighters, of course, as I have no more use for you. If you don't resist, I might even make it quick. There's nothing else you can do about the situation, anyway. There're more than twenty Zero Cannon units in deep space."

"Oh, but there is something we can do."

There was the sound of three sets of knuckles being popped, in anticipation of hitting something. Hard. Ryan, still slumped behind Zero, showed no sign of getting up.

Zero watched their determined, furious expressions.

"You couldn't defeat me at the height of your ability. Now, in your current condition, there's no way you can win."

He swirled his cloak, waiting for them to advance. To his surprise, the entire team didn't move, as if waiting for…something…

Zero felt a wave of lethargy pass through his body, slowing down his movements. The surroundings blurred, and he staggered, falling to a knee. 

"YOU!!! What…What…"

            Andro stepped forward, smiling.

            "Poison. Always the great equalizer. I brewed it myself before this, from one of Ogion's tablets, and a compound I synthesized myself. Each and every one of my blades have a small dose on it. You've taken enough to stun an elephant."

            With a curse, Zero took a step closer.

            "Maybe…But I don't need my speed…To destroy you."

            "We shall see. Guys? Let's get the hell outta here!"

            The speed of their retreat stunned Zero. Andro tackled Zero, bowling him over, even as his fingers snatched for the control. Normally, Zero would have easily blocked, replying with a devastating counter. But right then, his joints moved sluggishly, refusing to obey him.

            Behind Zero, Chan and Ogion scooped Ryan's form up, carrying him between the two. Then, all three bolted for the exit.

            Silently, Zero railed at the fates. If they had stayed, poison or no poison, he would still have killed them all. As it was, he would have to give himself a shot of stimulants, before he would even be up to speed. And that would take time.

            But the path to the exit was a mile long. He could spare the moments he needed. Cackling, Zero began the slow, painful process of extracting the medical kit from the place underneath the monitor.

************

"Whew…I think we lost him."

Chan slumped against the far wall, exhausted. He was nursing a stitch in his side, simply too tired to run anymore. With the draining of terror-filled adrenaline, the strain of every little injury began to tell.

Ryan was struggling to hold his guts inside him, hands wrapped round a spreading red stain on his abdomen. He was taking the pain well, but stress was showing on his face. Andro, always the professional, removed a whetstone from his pocket, and began to sharpen his blades once again.

Ogion stood a little bit apart from the group, thinking hard.

Then, he spoke.

"Zero is still coming. I can sense him in the distance, approaching at tremendous speed."

"What? But I thought…"

"Apparently, he has ingested a stimulant, to counteract the effects of Andro's poison. There is no way we can outrun him."

"So what do we do?"

Ogion turned slightly.

"Go. I'll remain to slow him down as much as I can."

Andro shook his head.

"Ogion, don't try to be cool alone. He'll kill you. This isn't a movie, damnit!"

"No. It is not. But it is true that I'm still rather healthy, and have the highest chance of survival. Besides…"

A faint smile spread across Ogion's face.

"…I'm always cool. I feel that this discussion is not important. I'm staying, no matter what your decision is."

"***Sigh*** Alright. Looks like we can't change your mind. You heard the man, Chan! Let's roll!"

Andro scooped Ryan up, and began to carry him down the long pathway.

Chan turned to follow. As he did, he paused briefly, and drew a small bottle from his jacket. With a simple, underhand throw, he tossed it to Ogion. 

The psychic caught the bottle, giving it a confused look.

"What's this?"

"Your medication. If you get out of this alive, you'll need it."

Ogion stared at the little bottle for a long time. Then, he drew a single pill from it, swallowing it dry. Then, he tossed it back to Chan.

"Keep it. I intend to go clean after this."

Chan nodded, shoved it back into his pocket, and ran off, following Andro. 

Ogion took a deep breath, and looked straight ahead, ready to meet the bringer of death. 

************

Chan and Andro ran and ran, terror giving them a second wind. Ryan was half-dragged, half-carried between the two, as they lugged his motionless body between them.

Blood trickled from between Chan's fingers, as he struggled to support Ryan.

"Andro…He's bleeding like there's no tomorrow."

"If this goes on, he not gonna have a tomorrow. Why're you complaining? We're carrying him, after all."

They continued their desperate run, for many long minutes. Behind them, they heard explosions, and various rumbling noises. A blast of black light followed, one that washed over them harmlessly.

Risking a look back, Andro saw that the area right behind them was now in ruins, as if a demolition crew had recently moved through. Even as he watched, unnatural fire struck the far wall, burning on the solid stone. A ball of something struck the ground with a wet, squelching noise, and began to melt into the ground.

Shuddering, Andro ran even faster.

************

Zero drew back once more, considering the slight young man who had dared to defy him. The two had been battling for some time, and Ogion was beginning to show signs of strain. Frost speckled his singed robes, and a halo of green fire burned around his head. Many small cuts decorated his shredded outfit, none of which were bleeding cleanly. If Ogion survived this, he was going to need intensive medical care. If he survived.

Zero began to pace back and forth, keeping the psychic in view.

"You're pretty good. So far, you're the only one of your team who has posed any challenge."

Ogion nodded slightly. His only reply was a bolt of mental force that shook Zero's feet. Growling, Zero shook off the effects, and continued walking.

"You know you cannot defeat me. Why do you still fight?"

Still no answer. A wall of flickering blue light arose, a thin curtain spreading between the two. Finally, Ogion spoke.

"Because…Every second you're delayed gives the others another second to run."

Acknowledging the comment, Zero closed his prowling, and began walking closer. He shifted slightly, preparing his blades to full effect.

"When I'm done with you, I'll rip out your heart, and fasten it to the Zero Cannon."

"Actions speak louder than words, asshole. Let's rumble."

************

Finally, the exit was in sight. Only a few meters more, to safety.

The boys let out an audible sigh of relief, followed by a nervous glance backward. 

No one was following them. Somehow, they still could hear the battle raging the distance, getting noticeably softer.

Chan nudged Andro, pointing straight ahead of them with a disturbed expression of his face. Two people, silhouetted by the sun, were busy walking right towards them.

"You know those two?"

"Yep. Kula's 'sisters'. She mentioned them before."

"…"

The two women stopped, just before the entrance to the tunnel.

"Is Zero in there?" 

Chan nodded, jerking a thumb in the direction they had just come from.

"He's in there."

As if to punctuate the point, the earth heaved, leaving everyone staggering for several seconds.

"…And taking on Ogion."

"Good."

The two boys shifted to one side, letting Diana and Foxy walk through.

Andro turned towards Chan.

"Someday, I'm gonna have to ask you how you happen to know the name of every girl we've met in this damn tournament."

"It's a long story. I'll tell you later, if I'm through hurting you by then."

"I'm looking forward to it. Now shut up and lift your portion of the load."

************

             Zero was enraged. You would think that would mean that he was losing. But in actuality, he was winning. Even though Ogion got his hits in, Zero was more or less dominating.                                                                                                              

Zero knew Ogion was better than that. He knew that the young man had the fighting prowess that could rival his own. He knew that it was possible that Ogion could be the man who would get the privilege of killing Zero once and for all.            

            But why was his fighting so poor? After knocking Ogion down with a kick, Zero realized what was going on: Ogion was holding back. Zero grabbed Ogion off the ground and held him up by his shirt. The man hissed, while trying to hold back his rage. "Why? Why are you holding back? Why will you not fight me with all of your ability?"                              

            Blood ran down Ogion's chin as he smiled. "You're really pathetic, you know that? Did you ever think in your pea brain that maybe there's more to life than fighting?"

"No. Fighting is the only thing."                          

"I have nothing to prove to you. Don't expect me to be your big prospect." Still smiling, Ogion raised his middle finger to the. "Now shut up and kill me, you sad bastard."          

Insulted, Zero finished the match with his most feared maneuver. Nobody knows exactly how to explain what would happen during the Gokusa Zanjin, or "Bladestorm." Those who became its victims were in too much pain to be able to tell what was going on. Only a few beings have actually accomplished the move and none of them are the type to explain. But the only thing the people watching at home could see was intense brightness accompanied with Ogion's screams.                                    

When all was said and done, Zero looked down at Ogion's lifeless corpse. Somehow, he heard a…thumping noise. Very slowly, his gaze traveled up…to a small, glowing spot on the man's forehead. 

"Oh, no."

The final burst that followed took out what remained of the room.

************

A few moments later…

            Zero lay where he had fallen, completely unable to move. He felt a strange heaviness, one that seemed to press down on him from all directions. He couldn't even turn his head.

            _Broken spine, he thought blearily. __Must've been debris from the explosion…_

So. He was as good as a vegetable now. But it didn't matter. His plan would live or die without him.

            But then, he heard the sound of slow, steady footsteps, as people, two of them, by the sound, began to approach. Zero closed his eyes, and waited for the end.     

************

            Chan and Andro turned, as a massive explosion lit up the sky once more. 

            Even Ryan was jarred awake by the brightness, bloodshot eyes fixing upon it, even as his hands gripped on even tighter to his stomach wound. It was bleeding much less, which meant that Ryan's extraordinary resilience was finally catching up. Either that, or Ryan was simply running out of blood.

            "Wha…" Ryan coughed wetly.

            "What was that?"

            "Beats me."

            Andro watched, face impassive as ever behind his mirrored visor.

            "Think Ogion survived?"

            "Maybe. Maybe not. That seemed like his last gasp to me."

            They stood there for a while, considering the chances.

            Then….

            "Nah. He's too tough to die that way… Isn't he?"

"We'll worry about it later. Let's move. We need some serious medical attention. Southtown's just over that hill, okay? Maybe there'll be a hospital…Or something…"

            As they crested the hill, taking in the nice, fresh air of the afternoon, they saw a sight that crushed all remaining hope to rubble.

            Over the hill, illuminated by the hellish red light of fires, Southtown burned.

(Well, this is the second to last chapter already. Did Ogion die in the final blast? What do you think? The chapters that follow will wrap this fanfiction up. Whew. Writing this chapter took quite a lot out of me, but rest assured that I'll finish it. As always, any suggestions are welcome, so please read and…)


	11. Requiem

**Chapter 11: Requiem**

            "Move it! Outta my way!"

            Andro was getting irritated. He and Chan had waded into the sea of panicky, fleeing refugees from Southtown, in an attempt to find some decent medical aid. Instead, all they had received was aggravation.

            The hospital was less than half a kilometer away, yet it seemed more like several miles. The sea of humanity shoved at them, pushing them ever further from their goal. Several times, Chan liberally applied the heavy handle of the Mage Cannon to those in his way, leaving a trail of unconscious people in his wake. 

This was often followed by a polite comment, such as "Look out" or "Excuse me!"  True, it was completely worthless, as no one was even listening to him. However, he felt a great sense of moral relief right after each apology.

            Andro was less discriminating. He simply bashed heads as he went along; stomping once on those who went down to make sure they stayed down. The young man was pissed beyond the ability of the English language to describe, his irritation slowly simmering into a full-blown rage. He was tired, injured, and in no mood for any distractions. He simply wanted to find some place to lie down and sleep for several hours.

            Ryan's face was an unusual shade of grey, probably due to exhaustion and dehydration. He had stopped bleeding ten minutes ago-Which was either a good or bad thing, considering whose point of view you looked at it from.

            On one hand, the other two were sick of getting all his blood over their nice, relatively clean clothes. On the other, it was definitely not good, from Ryan's own point of view.

            Chan realized that they weren't making much headway, against the onrushing tide. The moment Andro removed one person, another would dash in to take their place. There were simply too many shoving, pushing bodies.

            "Chan…"

            "Yeah, Ryan?"

            "Lend me your handgun for a second."

            "Okay."

            Gingerly, Chan passed the weapon into Ryan's weak grip.

            Ryan waved the gun, and yelled, "GET THE F*CK OUT OF OUR WAY!"

            No response. 

            Ryan emptied the entire clip into the air, causing it to resound with the thunderous roar of high-caliber gunfire.

            The crowd cleared a respectful distance around this maniac, with no one intending to get in the way of that rather large and menacing weapon. Sure, the civilians were panicking. But they still weren't stupid. Most decided to risk probable death under the feet of others, rather than certain death at the slugs of the Mage Cannon.

*********

            Zero was in a world of pain.

            He was tied securely to a chair, hands wrapped around the back with some kind of chain. It actually was rather redundant, as he couldn't move anything below his neck, forcing him to crane his head back and forth.

            Behind him, one of the women-Diana, wasn't it?-turned his chair around, to face the monitor screen.

            "Now watch. Watch as all your plans are undone," she hissed into his ear, in a voice full of spite. Somewhere else, the other one prowled, just out of sight. Foxy didn't seem to be truly interested in the going-ons. She hadn't said a word, since her fencing foil had prodded Zero, just to make sure that he was conscious.

            "Diana, hurry up. Let's just get out of here, before Kula nukes Zero with his own cannon."

            Inwardly, Zero shuddered. Nuke him? With the Zero Cannon? _That sounded really bad. There was no sound, no outward sign, but he suddenly realized that Diana and Foxy were gone._

            His eyes were involuntarily drawn to the screen that gave him a great view of his weapon. Far, far above, it was _turning_.

**********

Igniz, leader of NESTS, watched everything on his monitor screen. He let off a faint chuckle, mildly amused.

Zero had been a fool. All the while, he had thought that he could outwit NESTS. In the end, NESTS had outwitted him. It was surprising; the way Zero hadn't suspected anything till the last moment. Every cent of the funds used to build the Zero Cannon came from the organization itself. People from NESTS were even slipped into the massive construction project, adding Igniz's careful alteration to the designs…

Very slowly, Igniz drew a small remote from his pocket, a twin to the one already captured by Ryan. But this was the master control, with power over the other one. What happened next would be fitting retribution, killing the traitor with his own weapon.

Feeling far more satisfied than he had in a long time, Igniz tapped a finger on the 'FIRE' command.

**********

            Once more, in the sky above Southtown, the gates of hell opened.

            A red tracer, bright enough to burn the eyes, flashed straight down, marking a spot some distance away. It was gone in a moment, leaving those who saw it blinking, in an attempt to clear their eyes.

            But it was only a prelude of things to come.  

            The DHS Team noticed the massive tracer, having already seen the effects of the Zero Cannon once. They were right in front of a hospital, an old building, packed to the brim with wounded and the dead. There had been no one left to treat their wounds, though they had managed to secure some hemostatic medicine, and a mild dose of morphine. 

Ryan was looking more like his old self already, albeit a rather woozy version.

            The crowd had thinned out. Most people were already long gone. Those who hadn't were either dead or unconscious…Not that anyone really cared.

            For a second, all Chan could think was that, at one point or the other, he'd been cursed. _Cursed.__ Somebody wants me dead, that's all there is to it._

            He realized, with numb horror, that there was already a massive glow, one that lit up the clouds. Ryan and Andro saw it too, staring in unblinking terror at the unholy light.

            But even then, it wasn't real…Not until Ryan broke the silence.

            -"Maniac's gonna fire," He breathed, eyes comically wide. Then, as one, the entire group turned, feet pumping. They began to run for cover, even though there was no cover to run to-

            Whiteout.

            For a long moment, they couldn't see anything at all.

            Very, very slowly, as if afraid, sight returned. Where the hospital had been, there was now a perforated, flaming ruin. Many objects had spontaneously combusted, leaving many, many small fires burning in the background.

            "Are we dead?"

            Andro's voice was muffled by the pavement, as he refused to look up. Chan cautiously turned his head to the side, making sure all appendages were still intact. He was relatively unscarred, with his coat just slightly singed.

            "No. Don't think so."

            "Pity."

            The ray hadn't been aimed at them. Instead, Zero's headquarters was the one that received the blast. A weak shockwave had rocked Southtown, but that was a small price to pay for survival.

            _That must've used up all my luck. There can't be any left after that._

            And it was the karmic balance of the universe, that a good luck was quickly replaced with bad. 

            A second volley, half the strength of the original, arched down once more from above. Many beams strafed Southtown, as the Zero Cannon stations went berserk, after the destruction of the command centre. 

            Igniz had underestimated Zero. Everyone had underestimated Zero. No one had thought that, in his twisted mind, Zero would have planned this as his ultimate revenge.

            A single ray _stabbed, _heading straight for the pathetic group. It was massive, as thick as a full-grown tree. Reality warped around it, as it came down, down…

            Impact.

            Paralyzed, all Andro could do stare, even as his doom approached-

            -There was a sudden flash of light, as World-Eater's shield came up-

            -And Chan screamed in sudden, horrible agony. He doubled over, with no visible wound any could see. But his eyes, his eyes were horrible. A foot above them, World-Eater held its shield up, impossibly holding back the blast of the Zero Cannon.

            "RUN!!"

            Andro and Ryan didn't need to be told twice. Their feet were already in motion, carrying them away from the point of impact. It wasn't that they were cowards. It was simply that there was nothing they could do against something like this.

            Agony ran through Chan's right arm, as he too experienced the pain of trying to hold the energy. He couldn't move. He couldn't even cry out.

Above him, the shield held, held, held-

            -Broke.

            The shield shattered, component atoms scattered to the four winds. The blast came right down. Chan eyes bugged out, as he realized he was as good as dead.

            Then, something was between the ray once more, armored form taking the blast meant for him-

            -Agony lit up his entire body, as impact occurred. World-Eater let off an unholy howl, one that trailed off into a wet gurgling. With a kind of horrified astonishment, Chan watched the spectacle with wide eyes.

            The Stand was _melting._

            Armor sloughed away under the heat, warping and fusing with the organic heat. The fragments of the shield were somewhere in the mess too, reforming somewhere else. Even the weaponry was mixed up in the mess, shifted somewhere else against its natural form.

            It was utterly disgusting. Even at this time, with his body feeling like it was being burned alive, Chan's senses recoiled from the monstrosity. Vainly, he tried to pull away, even as metallic talons reached up from the reforming slime to snare him…

Light shone down. In it was power, enough power to burn away the nightmare around him. Chan reached up, and pulled all he could straight in.

            At his side, the Mage Cannon   glowed, overcharged.

**********

            "Chan! CHAN!"

            No response. Andro stopped yelling. It was no use. The last they had seen of Chan, before he had vanished into that massive fog of steam, was him trying to stop the ray before it struck.

            A chill wind blew up, whipping the fog away. Ryan's hand was raised, as he channeled a hair-thin breeze. Very slowly, the two took several steps forward, dreading what they would see…

            Laughter. Hysterical laughter rang around the area, from somewhere in the crowd. Andro and Ryan exchanged looks. _That _didn't sound good.

            Chan was on his hands and knees at the centre of a smoldering crater, a halo of blue light surrounding him. He looked…Fine. Better than fine, in fact. It was as though all his exhaustion, all his wounds, had been burned away.

            "I…I killed it! I FINALLY KILLED IT!"

            "Uh…killed what, exactly?"

            "My Stand…I burned away the corruption, burned away the monster! It's clean!"

            Ryan took a cautious step back.

            "Okay. The blast must've scrambled his brains."

            All of a sudden, Chan straightened up, businesslike once more. The change caught almost all by surprise.

            "Well, that's that. We'll just contact the KOF sponsors, and tell them we've won the tournament. Nothing to it."

Then, as casually as a diner, he adjusted his singed clothes, and began walking off. Chan felt so light, so free. He never even noticed when his legs buckled, spilling him onto the ground.

Andro caught him just in time, before his head hit.

"He's more messed up than I thought."

"Will he be okay?"

"He's just shrugged off a cannon blast. I really don't know."

"What was that crap he was babbling about?"

"Nothing. Just adrenaline overload. He'll recover from that, at least. Not let's get out of this hellhole." 

***********

Days later…

            "AND THE WINNER OF KOF 2000 IS…THE DHS TEAM!!!"

            Cheers rang from the audience, as the DHS Team, now clad in formal dress clothes, strode onstage.

            Ryan let out a sigh of relief. It was almost over. They had won.

            After Chan's encounter with the Zero Cannon, the group had walked off, intent on finding some way out of the hellhole that was now Southtown. They had hiked their way to the nearest payphone, five miles away at an almost-deserted fuel station.

            Fortunately, the attendant there had recognized them as the DHS Team, promptly giving them free use of whatever they wanted. A brief phone call later, a helicopter had arrived, airlifting them to somewhere far safer. Chan had regained consciousness about halfway through the trip. He was strangely happy, as if Christmas had come early. Nothing seemed to bother him anymore- Though he never used his Stand.

            Andro had been silent most of the trip. The psychopathic killer seemed oddly…disturbed, with Chan's new behavior. Personally, Ryan felt that he liked the new one better. Still, it was true that something seemed out of place here, though he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

            Chan, for his part, didn't seem to give a damn. In fact, he seemed far happier than he had been before. At that very moment, he was busy addressing the audience, hands clasped round the mike provided.

            What happened next could best be described by the camera.

***********

(Fade in. Chan stands at a speaker's podium, dressed in a white trench coat with his school badge. Andro stands beside him, looking truly uncomfortable. He shifts in his black tuxedo. Ryan 's waving to the audience, milking this for all its worth. From behind a door, Chizuru Kagura steps out holding a trophy.)

Chizuru spoke.

"Hello again, everyone!  Glad you could all make it.  As you know, King of Fighters '00 has just concluded, and three members of the winning team are here... "

The crowd went crazy again, many holding up massive banners. Most had something like 'THE DHS TEAM OWNS J00' or 'SINGAPORE DON'T SUCK!!!' There was a sudden rain of flowers, coins, hotel keys…Boxers?

"Just for your information, the fighters are CONFIRMED heterosexuals."

Several boos rang from the male half of the audience. However, this was quickly muffled by the cheers of the females.

"Yeah, get over it, Benimaru. Ahem. Hey, let me tell you, they've come a long way." Chizuru began walking, indicating each member in turn as she spoke.

"Ryan Lim here…" Applause. "He's a deadly fighter in his own right, a master of Jeet Kun Do. Add that to weather control, and you have an unbeatable combination. He's also the most popular among the fans…Scratch that."

Chuckles. Faint laughter.

"Chan, their supposed leader, is one of the most unique people ever seen. On one hand, he can't fight. On the other, he wields the nastiest Stand-and-weapon combo known to man."

Applause, a scattered sprinkling of it.

"And then there's Alistair Andrew Gilllus, who goes by the name of 'Andro'. He's had a rough time of it, considering his past, and his lack of powers. His weapons are considered cheap by many, though they're devastating to behold. Give him a big hand, folks!"

Even greater applause. Andro smiled sheepishly.

"It is with great pleasure, that I declare the DHS Team…THE WINNER OF KOF 2000!!!" The trophy was handed to the group, who proudly hoisted it over their heads.

Thunderous applause. The crowd went crazy. Ryan, Chan and Andro were momentarily blinded by flashbulbs. Cameras zoomed in on their faces.

"And now, a speech by Chan…Take it from here."

Chan swallowed hard, gripping the mike even tighter.

"Uh…Hi."

The response shook the hall.

"I'm here today to explain, why the last member of our team isn't here today. The answer is simple: He died."

Gasps of horror.

"Ogion sold his life, in an attempt to allow us to escape, from a psychopath far more powerful than us all combined. We were carrying an injured companion, see. Without his help, we would never have made it out alive."

Chan's face twisted slightly.

"His ashes are probably resting in the ruins of Southtown. Yes, you heard right. The same psychopath who killed him was the one who destroyed the city."

The crowd began to roar, calling for vengeance.

"Well…That's all I have to say. My friends have something to add…"

Chan passed the mike to Ryan, who promptly shot the nearest camera the 'finger'.

"SEE THIS, NESTS? WE'RE COMING FOR YOU! NEXT YEAR! NO MERCY!"

There was stunned silence for a long moment. Then, the screen cut to a close-in as the team strode off, surrounded by the media. Microphones were thrust in the team's faces, as the news struggled for scoops.

"So, Andro, what do you plan to do next?"

"-Ryan, what will you do with the money?"

"-Chan, can you show us your Stand?"

"Alright."

Ryan and Andro exchanged worried looks. They had already been over this with Chan already, knowing what his Stand had become…

Suddenly, the room was filled with a monstrosity, created of melted metal and flesh. It looked like a golem, two massive weapons grafted to the shoulders. The knight's head completely covered the face, and the old shield had reformed on the thing's chest. The arms were now snarling, drooling reptilian heads. Screams broke out. Many reporters backed away, granting the team a blessed reprieve. 

"This is my Stand…Requiem. A Requiem is a song that brings all living things down to death. And this Stand, created by their own weapon, will sound the death knell of the organization that created it."

The scene cut once more, to a reporter further away.

"And so a long, often painful journey has come to an end. A group of troubled young men from oft-neglected Singapore have finally won the tournament. But will they be able to put up the same performance next year? This reporter certainly thinks so, and I know that any true King of Fighters fan would agree with me.  Reporting from the post-tournament press conference, this is..."

***********

***CLICK***

There was a faint sound, as the television shut itself off. K' set the control down, wincing at his bandaged arm. He leaned back against the worn-out couch, turning to Maxima, who sat beside him

"Next year, I'm gonna be the one hosting that trophy."

"Over my dead body, clonebag."

            "No offence taken."

            "None meant."

***********

            Somewhere else, at NESTS headquarters, Igniz's fist came down hard enough to dent his steel throne.

            "Get me a termination squad. I want them dead."

            "That, I'm afraid, is impossible. They'll head back home after the tournament, where we have no ties whatsoever."

            "Is there any way we can reach them?"

            "Yes. In the next KOF Tournament. They'll be there."

            "Good. I want our finest there too."

            "It shall be done."

***********

            "Whew. It's finally over."

            Ryan exhaled a huge sigh of relief, the moment they stepped out from the press conference.

            "What's wrong, Ryan? I thought you enjoyed fame?"

            "Yeah…But's that's a bit too much even for me. Geez, Chan, I think you went a bit overboard with that Requiem shit. Change your Stand back."

            Chan's eyes took on an oddly shadowed look.

            "Sorry. Not possible. The Zero Cannon worked, but not in the way we expected."

            "You mean…"

            "World-Eater's been warped even more. No one could have expected it."

            Andro, walking along behind the rest, finally spoke up.

            "Well, now what? There're still many ends left untied. Such as Ogion, and that girl you met…"

            Chan flushed slightly. 

            "Hey! I'm over her, man!"

            "Really?"

            "Well…She was kinda cute, even if she _did want to kill me…"_

            "I'll take that as a 'No'."

            ***Click***

            "You were saying?"

            "Hey! Put the gun down!"

            They walked on for a bit. The noise faded away far behind, leaving only sweet silence. Far above, a flash of light lit up the night sky, followed by another and another and another. Very soon, the night sky was filled with a spontaneous volley of shooting stars.

            "Shooting stars, huh? You don't see that everyday."

            "Yeah, well. You learn something new everyday, don't you?"

            "Too true. This could mark the beginning of something bigger, far bigger than a group of boys out for revenge, on someone who killed their teammate…"

            "Uh…Say what, dude?"

            "Never mind, Chan. C'mon. We've won this round, and it's time to celebrate. Let's get drunk, guys! Drinks are on me!"

            Laughing, they strode off into the distance, heading off with no thought about tomorrow. Hell, as far as they knew, there was _no _tomorrow, when they would return to their normal old lives…Till the next year.

            (Frame Freeze)

            The words: "KOF 2000" scroll across the screen. And the credits begin to roll. 

**THE END**

(Yee-HAH! I FINISHED IT! Sorry for the ending being rather anti-climatic, but this isn't the end. The DHS Team will be back for the next tournament…As soon as I get more ideas. Until then, I'm open to all suggestions, so feel free to drop me a line at Burnout02urza@yahoo.com. Thank you for all your support and patience.)


	12. The Team Bios: What makes them tick

**Character Biographies**

Name: Chan "Burnout" Yong Sheng

Age: 16

Birthday: September 27, 1984

Favorite food: Mee Pok (Singaporean noodles), almost anything with meat.

Hobby: Writing, web surfing

Most Important: rune-engraved magnum, Family 

Dislikes: The "Authority", insects

Fighting Style: Stand "World-Eater"

"You're no match for the wrath of my Stand. World-Eater, sic him!"

Appearance: 

Chan is a sixteen-year old boy, and the de facto leader of the DHS team. He always wears his spectacles and fingerless gloves, followed by loose clothing that gives freedom of movement. He's often accompanied by his friends, and in a good mood most of the time. Among the group, he tries to be "on the job", attempting to make them take him more seriously. Unfortunately, his attempts often fail.

The boy is never without his handgun, the "Mage Cannon" which rests by his side in a holster. When expecting combat, or attempting to look "cool", he wears a blue jacket, or a long, grey trenchcoat. 

            His Stand, World-Eater, resembles an armored warrior, equipped with sword with shield. The head has been replaced by a gaping maw, filled with long, sharp teeth.

Biography:

            Chan was just a normal guy, until a demolition expert visited his school.

            During part of a talk on bomb safety in the Science lab, there was a gas leak. When the expert detonated is fake "bomb", Chan found himself caught in a firestorm.

            He should have died. 

            Instead, _something shielded him from the impact, leaving him bruised and singed, but relatively unharmed. Initially, Chan's Stand looked like a visored knight, in the first few seconds of its activation._

            However, the blast had some effect on it, destroying the helmet and revealing the monstrosity underneath. Still, that was perfectly fine with Chan, who was too thrilled with his new power to comment on its looks.

            After some time, he found out how to control it through trial and error, as well as force of will. Even better, he realized that he could channel its power into a specific object, unleashing it in the form of searing, red streaks of energy.

            But then, never finding a true outlet for fighting, Chan quickly buried this matter under the rest of his life.

            However, one day, he saw an open invitation to the KOF Tournament 2000 online. At first, Chan wondered whether it was simply a set-up. But later, after hearing it become the talk of the class, the boy decided to try his luck, dusting off his training outfit once more…

            Of course, he had to have a team. And who better to join it, than his best friends? 

            And thus was the DHS Team formed.

            Chan is the strongest member in the team, yet also the weakest. Simply put, he was made for keep-away battles, with his long-range weapons and all. However, close in, World-Eater evens the odds. Then again, Chan only has partial control of it, and never learned any real martial arts…Somehow, he scrapes through on what he has, improvising techniques as he goes along.

***********************

****

**Ryan**

"Life is all a game…And you're almost out of tokens! Let's get it on!"

Name: Ryan "Quicksilver" Lim

Age: 16

Birthday: 13 January, 1984

Favorite food: 

Hobby: Listening to music.

Most Important: His upgraded computer/ Collection of Linkin Park tunes

Dislikes: Academic Work

Fighting Style: Jeet Kun Do, Water/Weather manipulation 

Appearance:

Ryan is a slim, well-built youth, dressed just like a typical martial artist. He has a rather large hairdo, and a pair of distinctive, though small buck teeth. Though not exactly handsome, he exudes a devastating charisma. He cut a dashing figure in his black shirt and pants, streaked with gold.

            He always has a pair of headphones in his pocket, as well as a steady supply of Linkin Park tapes. Ryan is even less serious than Chan, and has a cocky air of indestructibility around him. His teammates despair of him ever "growing up", though they secretly hope he never changes.

            Before fighting, Ryan takes great care to attempt to unnerve his opponent, and prefers to have some time to warm up. Also, he's in the habit of slowly and deliberately rolling up his sleeves before administrating a serious beatdown.

            Ryan is extremely fast, though not very agile. His fighting style is extremely flash, and more for show than anything else. However, when combined with his water control powers, he's not someone to be trifled with.

Biography:

            Ryan's been Chan's friend from the very beginning, since the boy was in grade school. Along with Andro, they've been getting into and out of a LOT of scrapes.

            Ryan took up Jeet Kun Do due to the nagging of his parents, who thought that the boy was spending too much time in front of the computer. Strangely enough, the boy excelled in the art, and became something of a master in his own right.

            When Chan was looking for companions to join his team, Ryan quickly volunteered, anxious for a taste of adventure. He was instrumental in coaxing Andro, the near-psychopathic warrior, into joining the group, as well as managing to locate Ogion.

            And as for his powers?

            Well, Ryan doesn't really know how he got them. He considers it god's way of equaling him with the other, far more overpowered people he has met before. Other than that, he simply doesn't care.

            Ryan isn't really in this for the money. Sure, it'll be nice to have some of the prize, but he'll prefer international fame and acclaim, thank you very much. 

            When fighting, Ryan often fights to incapacitate, never to kill. Of course, if it ever does come that, he's perfectly capable of inflicting massive bodily harm. He just prefers not to. Ryan simply can't control his own speed sometimes, which makes his clumsy in certain situations.

***********************

**Andro**

"Blades don't kill people…I DO!!! Prepare yourself… MASSACRE!!!" 

Name: Alistair "Andro" Andrew Gill

Age: 17

Birthday: 21 March, 1983

Favorite food: Vienna Sausages. (Read Chapter 3)

Hobby: None

Most Important: Blades

Dislikes: All distractions

Fighting Style: Streetfighting, "Single-edge" style

Appearance:

            Andro is a slim, whiplash-thin man. His eyes are hidden behind a mirrored visor, and his face is an impassive mask. He wears bracers of some kind, hinged at the edges for his blades to slide out. This way, he is never truly unarmed, as long as he wears his normal outfit.

            A soft leather jacket, emblazoned with the sign of the local Hell's Angel's chapter. Andro picked it up as a curiosity at a sale, and is quite proud of it. He has placed all his spare weapons underneath that, where he can get hold of them as fast as possible.

            Andro has pale skin, and the short haircut favored by most students. The only time he shows any emotion besides irritation is when he is locked in mortal combat, within the circle of his whirling blades.

Bio:

            Andro used to be your average student, always fond of pulling both practical and less obvious jokes on people. He also was the best friend of Ryan and Chan, and got into and out of trouble many, many times.

            However, when he was in secondary one, his life took a drastic change for the worse. His parents headed overseas, taking him with them.

             It would be two years before his friends saw him again.

            When Andro returned, he had changed. He had gone from the lighthearted, bitingly sarcastic person he had been, to a psychopath who actually liked to see people bleed. He was never openly cruel, though he seemed to be oddly satisfied when someone become hurt or injured.

             Word quickly went out around the class that Andro's parents had died, and he now lived with his grandparents, somewhere else in Singapore.

            Andro seemed normal in most respects. He studied, did his homework, passed his exams…All without the joy or energy he used to have.

            One day, the local bully attempted to rough Andro up, much to his regret. By the time the rest of the class managed to get the remains of a chair from Andro's hands, his opponent had been scarred for life.

            The incident was quickly glossed over, as no one had liked the bully anyway. Ryan, realizing that Andro was merciless enough for battle, asked him to join the group. Andro agreed instantly, eager for more violence.

            Now, Chan and Ryan regret their decision somewhat, but realize that it's too late to take him off the team. But maybe next year… 

***********************

**Ogion**

"Can you hear that? That is the sound of inevitability. That is the sound of your demise."

Name: Ogion 

Age: 16

Birthday: 19 December, 1984

Favorite food: Unknown

Hobby: Unknown

Most Important: Powers, medication.

Dislikes: Weak, arrogant people. 

Fighting Style: Psychic attacks/ Telekinesis

Appearance:

            In sharp contrast to the rest of the team, Ogion looks delicate, almost sickly. Many people have considered him an easy target…till they looked into his empty, bottomless eyes.  

            Though he may not seem like it, Ogion is an extremely powerful psychic. He supplements his weak body with telekinesis, allowing him to perform incredible feats of strength. 

            Ogion dresses simply, in a long, flowing robe. He has an ancient, gold clockwork watch on his wrist, one that seems almost too heavy for him. Like most of his classmates, he's myopic, but has powers beyond physical sight.

            Whenever he uses his powers, there are several noticeable side-effects, such as green fire, and clumps of frost suddenly gathering on Ogion. However, these are merely cosmetic, and don't do much of anything.

Bio:

            Not much is known about Ogion, not even to the rest of his team.

            Ogion used to call himself "Bryan", a long time ago.

            His teammates know him only briefly, as a strange, always-distant student who entered DHS one day.

            Chan struck up a quick friendship with him, in the time before his powers developed, turning him into the ruthless psychic he is today.

            No one knows what caused him to begin changing. The first outward sign was when the headaches began, and the windows in the vicinity kept shattering. Ryan realized that Bryan was actually the cause of the destruction, and was anxious to find some way to stop it. 

            Chan, his father being a doctor, slipped Ogion several tranquilizers, in an attempt to relief his pain. It stopped both the headaches, and the wanton destruction. However, Ogion began to require more and more of the medicine, becoming something of a junkie in his own right.

            Fortunately, his control over his ability has increased, to the point where Ogion can go for days without his medicine. However, he doesn't like to do this, as it is incredibly painful. 

            It is Ogion's hope that, after experiencing the stress possible in the KOF tournament, he'll be able to go completely "clean", beholden to himself only. For now, Chan still supplies him with his medication, though the boy is wary about the psychological harm he might be doing to his former friend.

(Well, that's it for their bios. I'll upgrade them in my proposed KOF 2001 fiction. Any suggestions, as always, are welcome.)


End file.
